Bleach:School Days & Frostbitten Lightning
by Tayomi Sakuri
Summary: "There's no way I can ever tell Hitsugaya that the guy I fell in love with was him." She's into her first year at the Academy and she gets a cold boy as her tablemate.And she's determined to melt his icy heart. HitsugayaOC
1. Into the Academy

***DISCLAIMER: **I do not own Bleach! Bleach belongs to Tite Kubo.

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CHAPTER 1: INTO THE ACADEMY

"I still can't believe it."

She gasped. She was still in the midst of taking everything in. Taking in the fact that she was accepted into The Spiritual Arts Academy on her first try, at such a young age. Taking in the fact that she was within the compound of an Academy that many desired to be in. Taking in the fact that she was officially on her way to becoming more than just a normal girl. It felt as if it was just yesterday, that Ukitake had found her in Rukongai. One way or another, everything seemed so surreal.

"Well, I think I had better find my class..."

She took advantage of her small size to squeeze through the crowd of students, swarming towards the notice board with the class lists posted on it. She stared hard at the list and let out a tiny squeal of delight. She had been put into Class 1, the special accelerated program. Many students who came out from that class eventually moved on to become Captains, Lieutenants and seated officers. The students in that class were seen as more than just ordinary students. They were seen as the future leaders of Soul Society, wielding extraordinary abilities and powers. For the students of Class 1, The Spiritual Arts Academy would help them realise their potential to the fullest and become outstanding Shinigami. The girl smiled and immediately hurried off to her class.

The Spiritual Arts Academy looked like a grand school from the outside, boasting a massive size and beautiful architecture, but it looked ordinary on the inside. There were corridors filled with classrooms, classrooms overflowing with students, students creating a ruckus as they always do on the first day of a new school term. For the first year students, everything was the same except that it was a completely new school to them. It was a new year for them and everyone around them were new. The fact that everything around them was as fresh as paint was traumatising, because they felt as if they were stepping into the unknown. It felt rather unsettling; the young girl could not help but shiver in fear at the thought of entering unfamiliar surroundings.

The girl stepped into the classroom. Most of the students were already in class, standing around. A well-built man was standing in the classroom and it was natural to assume that he was the Head Teacher of Class 1. He looked like a stern man, with glasses perching on his nose bridge. He introduced himself immediately, after all the students of Class 1 had entered.

"Welcome, students! My name is Gengoro Onabara. I will be your head instructor and congratulations for your successful entry into The Spiritual Arts Academy. As students of Class 1, I am sure that the teachers and I will expect a lot out of you. You have obtained the most exemplary exam scores out of the batch this year and we see a lot of potential in you. As long as you work hard, you will eventually be not only members of the Gotei 13, but Death Gods at the top thereof. I will now assign you to your seats and learn your names as we go. Please line up according to height, males on my left and females on my right!"

The girl blushed. Standing at a hundred and twenty-five centimetres, she was sure to be the shortest in the class. True enough, she was. She sighed, realising that getting more sleep did not increase her height at all.

Gengoro Onabara walked over to her, smiled and spoke.

"Hello. What's your name?"

The girl replied him and Onabara smiled. He pointed her to her seat. The girl sat there, wondering who Onabara sensei would assign to be her table mate. _Probably the shortest guy in class,_ she thought.

Just then, she heard someone pull out the chair beside her. The girl slowly looked up, wondering what her new table mate would look like. As she had predicted, he was probably the shortest boy in class and was slightly taller than her. He had snow white, spiky hair and turquoise eyes. He kept a straight face, his face wearing anything but a warm smile. Somehow, he felt cold like ice. The girl did not dare say anything to him, fearing that she might provoke him and ruin his first day at the Academy.

After minutes of silence with her new table mate, Onabara had finally assigned seats to everyone and began an ice-breaking session with his new students.

"Just briefly introduce yourself, by telling us your name and something about yourself, " Onabara said. "Maybe you would like to start the ball rolling?"

Her table mate beside her stood up from his seat and turned around.

" My name is Hitsugaya Toushirou. I come from West Rukongai. Nice to meet you."For now, she could only use one word to describe Hitsugaya: cold. She was sure that there was a warmer side of him and that she would get it out... Eventually.

Suddenly, the girl realised that it was her turn. She was completely stunned. Nervously, she stood up from her seat and turned to face the rest of the class. She took a deep breath, determined not to let her nerves get in the way of letting her true personality shine.

"Hi everyone!" she giggled. "My name is Tayomi Sakuri! Um... I'm happy to meet all of you and I hope to be friends with you!"

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In the next chapter, Tayomi will finally engage in Kidou training!  
Please review! I'd love to hear comments from you all :D


	2. Playing with Fire

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CHAPTER 2: PLAYING WITH FIRE

Tayomi woke up with a start, accidentally banging her head against the ceiling. She rubbed her head, squirming in pain. _What a way to start the day..._

Tayomi grabbed her robes and quickly got ready at lightning speed. Today was the first day of training and the day would begin with Kidou training. The first half of the morning would be all about learning magic and focusing one's reiatsu. Tayomi was prepared for this day and gotten a good sleep, hoping to conserve her reiatsu for the big day. Having a certain fetish for magic, she was determined to master this fascinating and powerful skill .

The students of Class 1 gathered in the Kidou training area. It was out in the open and there were rows of targets metres away from where they were standing. Tayomi spotted Hitsugaya standing around, all by himself. It was an assumption to say he was being shy... He seemed rather cold, just like how she saw him yesterday. But for some reason, she could not help but be drawn to him. There was a certain air, a certain quality about him that made Tayomi interested. It made her feel that somewhere beyond that cold exterior, a warm heart was hidden underneath and she wanted to find it.

Onabara broke her train of thoughts, briefing the students on the various spells they would be practising today and the incantations. It seemed that Onabara would be following Class 1 for the whole day, as it was their first day of training. Tayomi concentrated hard, trying to remember all the long incantations. A wave of relief swept over her when Onabara told the class that he would repeat the incantation once before they practised the spell.

"Group one, forward!" Onabara shouted.

Tayomi watched the first group go forward. She noticed that Hitsugaya was in that group as well. He still looked as stern as ever, his face lacking emotion. The first spell they would be practising was Way of Destruction 31. At first she was surprised when she heard that they would be starting out with a level 31 spell, but then again, it was not much of a surprise... They were the special accelerated class after all. They were supposed to be gifted, a cut above the rest. Tayomi watched Hitsugaya, as he fired the spell and hit the center of the target. _Wow... That was really amazing! _Tayomi thought to herself. The other students in the first group barely hit the target. She wondered if she could hit the target's center as well.

"Group two, forward!"

It was finally her turn. She could feel her nerves getting to her again, overwhelming her instantly. However, now was not a time for nerves. She was determined to do her best for her first training and hopefully nail it. She reminded herself what she was here for and how much she wanted to master Kidou. Tayomi stood up and walked forward. Taking a deep breath, she calmed herself down and raised her hand, aiming it at the target.

"Ye lord! Mask of blood and flesh, all creation, flutter of wings, ye who bears the name of Man! Inferno and pandemonium, the sea barrier surges, march on to the south!"

Her eyes were fiery, burning with resolve.

"Way of Destruction 31, Shakkahou!"

A loud explosion followed and the area was filled with smoke. Tayomi covered her eyes with her sleeves. She had no idea what just happened and wondered if she had fired a successful shot on her first try. Slowly opening her eyes, she looked at the target and faced reality. The first thought came into her mind once she saw the scene before her. _What did I just do?_

She had successfully fired at the center of the target! But that was not all...

She had fired a few targets beside the one she was aiming at, as well as the walls behind it. In total, she destroyed seven targets, as well as the wall behind the targets and the two other walls behind it. All the other students were in shock, unable to believe whatever stood before their eyes. A first year student, destroying more than one target and the walls behind it on her first Kidou training! It was unheard of. Two men popped their heads out from behind one wall, one of them was wearing a white haori and the other had a Lieutenant insignia on his arm. They had probably just missed the shot and were stunned. Tayomi was at a loss for words, but she knew that she had to say something.

"I'm sorry! I'm sorry I'm sorry I'm sorry!" Tayomi bowed towards them, almost in tears. "I didn't expect this to happen! I'm sorry for destroying the walls and almost injuring a Captain and Lieutenant... Ahhh I'm sorry I'm sorry..."

She looked up at Onabara and prepared to be scolded for destruction of the training area. Instead, Onabara simply smiled at her and praised her.

"There's nothing to apologise for. That was remarkable! I've never seen a first year student do that on their first training session... Well done!" Onabara cried.

Tayomi was still stunned. She just received praise from her instructor. She was successful in firing her first Kidou spell. She just did it...

Tayomi smiled. "Thank you, Onabara sensei!"

That praise alone just made her day. Tayomi grinned to herself. After a few hours of practise, Kidou training was over. Now she could relax a little and worry about the next training session in store for her. After Kidou training was Zanjutsu training. Kidou and Zanjutsu all in one morning... Tayomi had not the slightest idea about what Zanjutsu was. In short, she was completely clueless about it. Forget about relaxing. Now there's Zanjutsu training to worry about...

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Tayomi has her first sparring session in the next chapter!

&Please review! I'd love to hear comments and further improve my story :D


	3. Crossing Blades

**CHAPTER 3: CROSSING BLADES**

At last, it was time to escape the sweltering heat from the sun and enter the indoor Zanjutsu training area. Tayomi was pumped after her success at Kidou training and tried to feel excited about Zanjutsu training, but somehow the excitement refused to come out. _Sigh...Exactly what is Zanjutsu? _That question alone had been bugging her since yesterday, when she saw that Zanjutsu was part of the curriculum at The Spiritual Arts Academy. Just then, the Zanjutsu instructor entered, along with Onabara.

Tayomi finally had her question answered. Zanjutsu was the art of combat commonly used by Shinigami, involving the use of their Zanpakutou and its special abilities to attack the opponent. _So that was what the Zanpakutou given to me yesterday was for. It was for Zanjutsu class_. Although she just had the question in her mind answered, the fear in her heart had not dissipated at all. The only thing she could do was keep her fingers crossed and hope for that she would be able to follow and master the essential techniques of this skill.

After an hour of teaching, the Zanjutsu instructor announced that they would be sparring every training session as it would be good practise. In addition, they would be able to observe the students' techniques and growth. Onabara told the class not to worry, as they would select the opponents according to their scores when they entered the Academy.

"First off, let us start with the two students who were tied for the best results among this class. Hitsugaya Toushirou and Tayomi Sakuri, forward!"

"Huh? Me?" Tayomi was in an utter state of shock.

"Yes, you!"

"Huh? Really?" She was still rather stunned upon hearing her name called.

Onabara sighed. "Just get up there!"

Tayomi squeaked. She slowly stood up and made her way to the sparring area. She had no idea that she topped the class in the exams, nor did she expect to be called up first. _It sounds logical though... Getting the two best students in the class, who are equally strong to go first._ But she never expected herself to be one of them!

Tayomi kept a straight face. Now was not a time for fooling around. Onabara's words echoed in her mind. She had to work hard and keep a serious attitude in training if she wanted to become and outstanding member of the Gotei 13 in future. Hitsugaya's face was as straight as hers and Tayomi knew that both of them would not hold back during their fight. The atmosphere became still and the training area was absolutely silent. Tayomi could see the other students holding their breaths, squirming in excitement, eagerly awaiting the instructor's command.

"START!" The instructor shouted.

Hitsugaya lunged forward at Tayomi and went on offense. Tayomi quickly defended, using her zanpakutou to block out his attack. _He's fast! _She decided to keep up her defense and wait for a good time to strike. So far, Hitsugaya had been going on all out offense, striking her blade several times at lightning speed. Tayomi had to quickly think and react at the same time, because Hitsugaya was definitely not to be taken lightly. Their blades crossed and banged against each other a few times. Tayomi finally decided that it was time to stop playing nice and get violent.

Instead of blocking his attack, Tayomi dodged it by bending backwards, before springing back up and attacking him. She struck her blade against his, pushing her zanpakutou with all her strength. Hitsugaya started glowing, a pale white aura surrounding him and his zanpakutou. Subconsciously, Tayomi had started glowing too, but the aura surrounding her was pale yellow. The two started to increase in speed and the clashing of their blades were more frequent. Suddenly, Tayomi felt someone grab her arm and saw someone grab Hitsugaya's arm as well. They looked up and realised that they were being held back by the Zanjutsu instructor and Onabara.

"Sensei, what's wrong?" Tayomi asked.

"Maybe you haven't realised it, but you've been releasing a lot of reiryoku. If we let the fight ensue, I think this area would be blown up too..." Onabara replied in a grave tone.

"I'm sorry about the Kidou training area..." Tayomi sighed. "I..."

"It's ok. Now finish up the fight in one strike and we'll declare the winner."

Hitsugaya stood across the area, twelve metres away from her. Tayomi gripped her zanpakutou tightly and rushed forward. Hitsugaya raced towards her and they raised their zanpakutou, hoping to land a hit on their opponent.

"Hitsugaya Toushirou wins!" The instructor announced. "You did well too, Tayomi" A roar of applause erupted from the other students.

Tayomi stared at her zanpakutou. She felt Hitsugaya's blade at her shoulder and saw her blade a few centimetres away from his. Apparently, the fight was close to resulting in a tie but Tayomi's inaccuracy had prevented it from happening. Tayomi sighed, but somehow, she felt rather content with her performance. She looked up and reached her hand out towards Hitsugaya, only to see him walk away.

At the exact same moment, the bell rang throughout the corridors. It was time for lunch at last. Tayomi ran over to the girls in her class and headed off for lunch together.

_Perhaps I'll speak to him during lunch and get a chance to get to know my table mate after all..._

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Tayomi finally speaks to Hitsugaya in the next chapter!  
Please review! I want to hear your comments:D


	4. Frostbitten Hearts and Electrified Souls

**CHAPTER 4: FROSTBITTEN HEARTS AND ELECTRIFIED SOULS**

The cafeteria was unusually noisy today, due to the uproar caused by the freshmen. Meal times were always the best times to get to know your classmates and the freshmen took full advantage of that. The chatter and laughter of students filled the place and it seemed that every class was getting some good bonding time. At Class 1's table, the girls were already very close, as they were the minority in the class and found it all-important to stick together.

Tayomi was having the best time talking to them and finally felt like she belonged somewhere, had a place in this world. She looked over at Hitsugaya. He was still silent and had not talked to the boys. None of the boys took the initiative to speak to him either. Come to think of it, ever since his first day, Hitsugaya had not spoken a word to anyone at all. Hitsugaya finished his meal quickly, put away his utensils, left the table and headed off towards the garden outside the cafeteria. Tayomi stared at her clean plate and hurriedly put away her utensils as well. Her friends were rather curious and asked her where she was headed. Tayomi smiled and replied, saying that she was going to take a breather.

She stepped into the garden, teeming with trees and a few stray flowers growing around. The number of trees there were considerably abundant, Tayomi's instincts told her instantly that trying to find Hitsugaya was not going to be easy at all. After running around the trees in circles (and potentially looking as if she was a psycho on the loose who loved playing around trees), Tayomi finally spotted Hitsugaya under a tall tree, right beside the only tree where pink cherry blossoms had emerged from the flower buds. Taking a deep breath, Tayomi slowly walked over to Hitsugaya and mustered up some courage to speak to her ice cold table mate.

"Hi!" She smiled gently at him, instead of giving him her usually bright cheery smile. For some reason, Tayomi instinctively gave him her gentle smile, which she hardly gave to anyone she knew.

Hitsugaya looked up and stared at her for a brief moment. "Do I know you?"

Tayomi was completely taken aback after hearing his statement, feeling a little awkward. She did not and had never expected such a strange reply from him.

"Um..." she felt her face burn up a little. "I sparred against you just now in Zanjutsu class... And I sit beside you in class. In other words, I'm your table mate."

"Oh." Hitsugaya responded coldly in monosyllables again. Tayomi started to feel that he did not want to talk to her, but she told herself that she would not leave until she got him to open up to her. She would do whatever it took to melt the ice that froze his heart.

"Well...Eh..." Tayomi stuttered. "Wait, let me try to remember what I wanted to say..."

"What." Hitsugaya gave her another icy stare.

"Oh yeah! You were great at Zanjutsu class... I... Well... I'm glad I got to have an opponent as strong as you to fight against in my first class."

Hitsugaya stared at her for a moment, before looking away. "Oh."

Tayomi started to panic. _Was this guy raised in a freezer or something? He is incredibly cold! But still, no way I am giving up on getting to know my table mate. _"You were great at Kidou too... Not many of our classmates managed to hit the target, but you hit the center on your first try!"

Hitsugaya stared at her. His turquoise eyes were burning into her purplish-blue eyes. For the next few seconds, an awkward silence was observed. Tayomi finally lost it and broke the silence completely.

"STOP STARING AT ME LIKE THAT! Can't you respond with more...words?"

Hitsugaya looked at her. "Ok, fine"

"Oh my god. I'm being treated like an alien who speaks funny languages!" Tayomi exclaimed in frustration.

"Sorry," Hitsugaya replied. "It's just that... I never expected you to talk to me."

Tayomi sat down beside Hitsugaya. "Why not? Do I look scary or repulsive or..."

"No..." Hitsugaya sighed. Tayomi gave him a smile and told him that it was okay to tell her his troubles if he wanted to, since they were table mates. "Well..." Hitsugaya said. "No one really spoke to me in my hometown. They were afraid of me, even though I did nothing to them. In Class, no one spoke to me either. They probably were scared of me too, or they just assumed I was weird."

"Well, I don't think you're weird! Anyway, since you don't seem to remember me, I should just reintroduce myself." Tayomi reached out her hand towards Hitsugaya. "I'm Tayomi Sakuri."

Hitsugaya stared at her hand for a moment, before slowly reaching out to hold it. "I'm Hitsugaya Toushirou." Tayomi pulled him up to his feet and smiled at him. She looked at the sky and spaced out for a few seconds.

"Eh...Susu-chan?" She grinned.

"Don't call me that." Hitsugaya glared at her.

"Why not? It's a cute nickname! I have the habit of giving nicknames to people whom I think I will share a good friendship with..." Tayomi giggled. "And since I'm going to call you by your nickname, you can give me a nickname as well, alright? "

"Fine. I'll call you... Yomi-chan." Hitsugaya replied. Tayomi realised that she was still holding his hand, but since Hitsugaya seemed fine with it, she decided to keep it there.

Just then, the sound of the bell echoed throughout the school compound. Lunch was officially over and it was time for Hakuda class. Once again, Tayomi did not have the slightest idea what Hakuda was and had to keep her fingers crossed once again. Suddenly, she realised that if they did not hurry, they would be late for Hakuda class. Even though, the Hakuda training area was nearby and the class started in five minutes, Tayomi did not want to walk there and end up late.

"Susu-chan! We have to run!" Tayomi cried. Holding his hand, she tugged him towards the Hakuda training area.

After three minutes of dashing and speeding in the corridors, Tayomi and Hitsugaya burst into the training area, still holding hands. Tayomi spotted the instructor and his assistants, warming up before the class started. She gasped.

"Tayomi, what's wrong?" Hitsugaya whispered to her.

"Eh... Eh... Eh..." Tayomi was at a loss for words. She knew she would need a lot of luck just to get through Hakuda training alive.

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Tayomi's weakness is going to be revealed at last! In the next chapter, she's going to face her ultimate phobia... So watch out for it!  
&Please review! I'd love to hear comments from you all :D


	5. Face to Face With Weaknesses

**CHAPTER 5: FACE-TO-FACE WITH WEAKNESSES**

"This is Ha-Ha-Haku-d-da?" Tayomi stuttered, with a sheepish grin plastered to her face.

Hitsugaya stared at her. He could feel her shiver and wondered what was wrong with her. Usually, nobody got that freaked out before a class. Tayomi was the most unusual girl he had probably knew, even though he had just gotten to know her, he felt as if he had known her for some time. Maybe because she was not the kind of girl who kept everything to herself, but even so everyone had their own secrets which nobody else knew about.

The instructor got everyone to sit down before him and explained what Hakuda was. Hakuda was also known as "Hand-to-hand combat" and tested one's physical strength and skill. It was more like a martial arts class, where students would learn to fight with their fists and without any weapons. After a brief demonstration of what they would be learning today, the instructor began to practice with the students, guiding them on the proper techniques to use and the amount of strength needed.

After an hour, the instructor announced that he would be splitting the class into groups of two. In these groups, the members would spar against each other, as well as be responsible for helping each other improve their skills. Once again, they were split up according to their scores in the exams. As expected, Hitsugaya and Tayomi were paired together. They were allocated to a corner in the training area for practice and sparring.

"Well then, let's spar." Hitsugaya said coldly. "You ready, Tayomi?"

Tayomi kept quiet and stared at him blankly. She had been hoping that he would never ask her that question. Though on the bright side, he had taken the initiative to speak to her and managed to remember her name.

"Here goes!" Hitsugaya raced towards her, only to have her squeak and hop aside. _Gosh, what's wrong with that girl? _

Tayomi stared at him, fear overtaking her body. She shuddered at the fact that there was half an hour more to go before Hakuda class. There was no way she could survive that nightmare for half an hour...

After Hakuda class, Tayomi was confronted by Hitsugaya.

"What's wrong?"He shouted at her. "You didn't attack me at all! For the past half an hour, you were squealing, running away from my attacks and refused to hit me!"

Tayomi looked down at her feet, before dragging Hitsugaya to the garden where they first met and sat under the same tree.

"Well, because... I used to have an elder brother. He always protected me, no matter what. One day, the bullies in my village tried to take me back with them and wanted to make me their slave. My brother came to save me and engaged in a fight with them... He was beaten up so badly that he bled all over..." Tayomi started sobbing. "By the time the other villagers came to help and chased those thugs away, my brother was too injured and lost so much blood... He lost his life because he was beaten up in the hands of those bullies... That's why since then, I've always been afraid of fighting hand-to-hand. Whenever I want to hit someone, this incident always comes into my mind...It's fine using my zanpakutou or kidou to bring evildoers to justice. I'm not afraid of using them, but using my own fists... It just brings back too much sad memories."

Hitsugaya looked at her and knelt down in front of her. He never knew that there was such a tragedy behind her fear of hand-to-hand combat. Tayomi's tears trickled down her face, from her purplish-blue eyes. She wiped away her tears and apologised for being such a cry baby.

"You have to get over your fear if you want to graduate. Since it's my duty to help you, I guess I could help you get over your fear..." Hitsugaya sighed, hoping that she would feel better.

Tayomi looked up at him and smiled. "Thanks, Susu-chan..."

The pair decided to meet up under that tree at night to train.

YAY MEETINGS AT NIGHT! :D  
Please review :D


	6. An Unwanted Acquaintance

**CHAPTER 6: THE UNWANTED ACQUAINTANCE**

Tayomi sat under the tree where she and Hitsugaya first met. She gazed at the sky, clear of clouds with a few stars shining down upon her. The light from the crescent moon shone on her face, making her complexion appear even fairer. The sound of crickets chirping and the rustling of the leaves were like the melodies of the night, as a breeze swept past the trees.

"He's late..." Tayomi sighed, closing her eyes and leaning her head against the tree.

Just then, the rustling of leaves became even louder and it seemed that someone was approaching her. Tayomi was too lazy to open her eyes, hoping to catch a bit of shut-eye before Hitsugaya finally decided to turn up.

"Dozing off so quickly?" The voice said coldly.

Tayomi opened her eyes to see Hitsugaya in front of her. He seemed to be in a good mood, even though his facial expression was the same as it was on the first day of school, something about him seemed different. His tone tonight seemed lighter and much happier. Tayomi was sure that something special had happened. Hearing Hitsugaya's tone carrying a hint of delight was a rare occasion. She smiled and pounced on him, bugging him to tell her what had happened.

Hitsugaya told her to get off him, or else he would not say a word. Tayomi immediately abided by him and listened to his story. Hitsugaya had went to a cave before he met her, as he wanted to meet his Zanpakutou's spirit. At the cave, he had met another boy from their class. Apparently, they manifested the same Zanpakutou and were delighted to find someone with the same powers as himself. They had become firm friends even though they had just met. Tayomi smiled to herself, thinking that it was great that Hitsugaya had finally found a friend of the same gender. He could finally bid goodbye to his loneliness whenever he was with the other males in their class.

The next day, Tayomi entered the classroom and walked towards Hitsugaya. He was standing beside a tall guy, with dark hair and violet eyes. A scar ran down the side of his face and his hair was tied into a loose bun at the back. _He must be Kusaka...I'll definitely be able to remember one more classmate's name now._

"Tayomi, this is Kusaka." Hitsugaya introduced Kusaka to her. Kusaka smiled at Tayomi and nodded his head.

"Nice to meet you!" Tayomi smiled back at him. "I'm relieved to know that my table mate has finally found a guy friend, you know."

After class, Kusaka held Tayomi back until everyone had left the classroom. Tayomi felt strange. What could Kusaka want with her? They just barely knew each other. Perhaps it was about Hitsugaya...It probably was about Hitsugaya. It had to be about Hitsugaya. There was no way it could be about her.

"Yeah Kusaka, you wanted to speak to me?" Tayomi asked Kusaka.

"Well, I just want to tell you that..." Kusaka spoke and leaned closed to Tayomi, causing Tayomi to feel awkward and back away, towards the blackboard. Kusaka continued to advance forward and eventually placed his palm on the blackboard, trapping Tayomi against it. "You're really pretty. Eyes the colour of a stormy sky, hair as black as night, lips as pink as a rose..." Kusaka bent down and attempted to lay his lips on hers, but Tayomi reacted quickly and turned her head away, trying to push Kusaka away with all her might. But standing at about thirty centimetres taller than her, it was hard to get him off her. In the end, Kusaka's lips ended up on Tayomi's cheek. Kusaka backed away slowly and gave her a sly grin.

"See you around, my adorable Tayomi-chan."

Tayomi stood there, slowly reaching her hand towards the spot where Kusaka's lips had touched. She violently wiped his saliva off her cheeks, utterly disgusted at him and completely taken aback by what had just taken place. Setting her thoughts straight, she burned with rage. Seriously, Kusaka was too bold. To think that his intentions for speaking to her was not because of Hitsugaya, but to actually attempt to do something so outrageous!

_I want to kill this guy... _Tayomi thought to herself, trying to keep her anger under control._ "But if I offend him, it might affect his relationship with Hitsugaya. Argh... It wasn't easy for Susu-chan to find someone who shared so many similarities as him, well except that Susu-chan's great and this Kusaka guy is a downright pervert... _

At lunch, Tayomi was completely dazed and ended up playing with her food throughout lunch. She managed to force a bit of rice and chicken down her throat, but that was all. She felt absolutely sick to the stomach just thinking about what had happened just now and she hated Kusaka to the core. However, she was happy that he was Hitsugaya's friend, seeing Hitsugaya so happy around Kusaka. No matter how much she hated Kusaka, she knew that she could never retaliate, given his friendship with Hitsugaya and his size. She was no match for him and even if she did manage to retaliate, it would come at the expense of his friendship with Hitsugaya and ultimately, Hitsugaya's happiness. Tayomi refused to see Hitsugaya so lonely and made up her mind to keep quiet about it. Perhaps Kusaka was feeling crazy at that moment.

But Kusaka seemed to be lucid when he did so, because the next day, he managed to trap Tayomi against the wall outside her dorm room.

"Kusaka Sojiro, may I remind you that you are not supposed to be at the girl's dormitory at night," Tayomi said bluntly.

"And Tayomi-chan, what are you doing outside your dorm at two in the morning?" Kusaka whispered into her ear. He bent down and tilted his head sideways, his mouth a few centimetres away from Tayomi's neck. Tayomi was seething with anger inside, trying to stop herself from creating a ruckus in the middle of the night while everyone was sleeping. She pushed Kusaka away.

"Please stop bothering me. I am trying to be very nice already, on the account that you are Hitsugaya's friend. Really, don't try anything funny with me."

"Oh," Kusaka sighed. "I can do that, but after that, don't be surprised if I turn nasty towards Hitsugaya. Sure, we have the same powers and I like that, he's quite a friendly guy. But I don't like how he's the only guy that is close to you. The beautiful Tayomi Sakuri is practically unattainable and only Hitsugaya can get her..."

_This guy has got me confused, alright. So he likes Hitsugaya because they have identical powers and they are in the same boat, but hates him because he is close to me? _Tayomi's mind was in a mess, but for now she had understood that.

Kusaka patted her cheek and walked away. Tayomi glared at him for a few seconds, before turning away and heading to the garden to meet Hitsugaya for practice.

* * *

Tayomi hates Kusaka...(Personally I'm not a Kusaka fan, nor do I feel any attachment towards him). Ok next up, Hitsugaya will get Tayomi to hit him...Somehow. Good luck, Hitsugaya!Please review :D I want to know your thoughts about this story! Thanks


	7. Heart to Heart

**CHAPTER 7: HEART TO HEART**

"Tayomi, really..." Hitsugaya grumbled. "Just hit me! It's no big deal and I won't bleed..."

Tayomi was frozen in her position. Her leg was raised, ready to perform a side kick which was supposed to cause Hitsugaya to stumble backwards. The only implication was that she had not extended her leg at all. Her foot was nowhere near Hitsugaya's body and it had been that way for the past five minutes. She sighed and put down her leg slowly, before kneeling to the ground and covering her head with her hands. The fear was overtaking her. The blood she saw in front of her very eyes, the sight of her own brother being beaten up mercilessly and dying in her arms played over and over again in her mind. It was too much to handle, she felt as if the pain had consumed her entire being.

At the same time, she was hounded by her problem with Kusaka. To think that he had taken an interest in her and acted as if she was his! The worst thing of all was that he threatened to end his friendship with Hitsugaya if she refused to submit to him. She did not want to submit to him of course, but she did not want Hitsugaya to be implicated. Tayomi sighed. She was more than willing to sacrifice her own happiness than see Hitsugaya all by himself again, without any friends. It was so rare, so difficult for him to find someone who was so similar to him... Well, besides the fact that Hitsugaya was the best and Kusaka was the worst.

"I think we should take a break." Hitsugaya sat down beside her. "Is there something on your mind?"

"Well, yes..." Tayomi sat down and buried her face in her knees. "But it's nothing... There's no need for me to tell you. I suppose I will settle it on my own over time."

"I think I might have some news that might make you happy..." Hitsugaya spoke coldly and Tayomi detected a hint of sadness in his voice. _You're about to deliver good news to me, but why do you sound so sad? You should be happy, shouldn't you?_

"Kusaka spoke to me today. He told me that he liked you and told me to put in a few good words for him." Hitsugaya lay on the grass, placing his hands under his head. "I'm not good at this sort of stuff, but well Kusaka's my friend and he's a good guy. He's really nice, sweet and he never goes overboard whether it comes to having fun or training. Maybe you would consider him?"

Upon hearing those words, Tayomi clenched her fists hard, resisting the urge to stand up, run to Kusaka's room and release her fury upon him. She resisted and ended up doing something completely different.

"OUCH!" Hitsugaya screamed in pain. He had not seen that coming at all. "You hit me... At last."

Tayomi had punched him right in the stomach. Her fist was still on his stomach and Hitsugaya could feel her trembling. At that moment, he could feel teardrops hit the surface of his robes and seep into its material. The next thing that hit the surface of his robes was Tayomi's forehead. He could feel her shivering and hear her sobbing. Hitsugaya was at a loss, he had never been in such a situation before and had a girl cry so profusely that she dropped to her knees and leaned her forehead against his body.

"Don't...You...Shut up..." Tayomi whispered angrily. She got up and tried to wipe her tears, but they kept running down her cheeks uncontrollably. Hitsugaya got up as well, staring at her. He felt that he should say or do something, but he had not the slightest idea of what was appropriate at this juncture. Surely he could do something to make her feel better? Even though they had only known each other for a month or two, he had felt as if he had known Tayomi for ages. They were really close and although they were poles apart in terms of their personality, somehow they got along extremely well. Both felt as if time had stopped whenever they were together and were in a world of their own.

Tayomi felt a hand pat her head and ruffle her hair.

"Crying... It's for the weak." Hitsugaya said coldly, but with a hint of gentleness in his turquoise eyes. "Are you weak?"

Tayomi looked up into his eyes. It was one of the rare moments where Hitsugaya actually showed emotions in his words and actions. She wiped her tears and calmed down.

"Sorry..." Tayomi apologised. "I hope you aren't angry, Susu-chan."

"Well, you finally hit me. It's significant progress..." Hitsugaya said. "It's well worth it. But will you consider Kusaka? I don't know why you were so angry when I talked about him, but he's my friend and he asked me to speak on his behalf."

_He's unaware of what happened between Kusaka and me. He doesn't know that I hate Kusaka. He doesn't know why I hate him either... I have no idea how to reply._

Tayomi changed the subject abruptly.

"Hey Susu-chan, can we make a pact? In future, when we enter the Gotei 13, we cannot forget about our friendship and we will both stay alive to see each other rise to the rank of Captain. It doesn't matter which squad... But promise me that I'll get to see you promoted to Captain someday... And I'll promise that you'll see me promoted as well. Just... Just promise me that."

Hitsugaya stared at her for a moment. _Strange. She's never said something like that before. _"Ok... I promise. I... I really cherish our friendship, I just want you to know that." Tayomi was the first girl outside his village who spoke to him and accepted him for who he was. She was not afraid of him, unlike the other children in his village and she had always been there to offer him support.

Tayomi smiled. "I cherish our friendship too."

* * *

Yay that's a promise made :D Next chapter, Tayomi gets involved in boy troubles again. Kusaka? Or is someone else about to make trouble for Tayomi? Find out in the next chapter...  
Please review :D


	8. Girl Fight

**CHAPTER 8: GIRL FIGHT**

"Oh my god, WHAT IS THIS THING?" Tayomi screamed.

Using two fingers, she picked up the strange doll on her desk and looked at it in disgust. The doll had blonde hair, small blue eyes, a big nose and a strange but evil grin. All in all, she looked dishevelled and was anything but normal. Tayomi had no idea what the doll was for and where it came from. The doll held a sign written in red, which said :** Hello Tayomi-san, meet me outside the Hoho training room during lunch. Go alone and do not bring anyone with you. Do not tell your teacher. I have business to settle with you.**

"Yomi-chan, do you know who it's from?" Her friend Kiseida asked.

Tayomi shook her head. She had not expected such a thing to happen, bright and early in the morning, right before her first class. She did not remember offending anyone recently, other than Kusaka. In the first place, she had never offended anyone she knew. Tayomi was quite popular in her class, staying true to herself and being able to make her friends feel at ease whenever they were with her. All of her classmates got along fine with her and never held anything against her. As a class, Class 1 was quite bonded and Tayomi ruled out the possibility that her mystery sender was from her class.

_So my mystery sender probably isn't from my class... But I don't know anyone from other classes either. Who on earth could it be?_

At that moment, Onabara entered the classroom and Tayomi quickly hid the doll under her table, not wanting any trouble and preventing Onabara sensei from shooting questions at her regarding the mysterious sender. After all, the mysterious had specifically specified that no teacher was to know about this matter. She cast the morning's events out of her mind and tried to focus on class, but the matter stubbornly refused to leave her mind. Tayomi rested her chin on the palm of her hand, propping her face up and forcing herself to stare at the blackboard and copy down notes. Although Tayomi's pen was moving, she was blankly copying. Her mind was not focused on Onabara's words.

"Hey, focus." Hitsugaya told her, without looking up from his notebook.

"Sorry, I just can't get it off my mind..." Tayomi replied, her voice full of frustration and worry. "I have a mysterious person who sent me a weird doll with a threatening message! And maybe you forgot, but that weird doll is right under my table!"

"Just focus, alright." Hitsugaya huffed and got back to his notes.

After suffering in class for the whole morning, the bell finally rang for lunch. That meant that it was time to meet the mysterious sender. Gripping the doll and hiding it in her robes, Tayomi was mentally prepared to head to the Hoho training room. Right before she went, Hitsugaya had offered to come with her. Tayomi smiled, saying that she would be fine.

"Are you sure you don't want me to come with you? You can't even fend for yourself and we're forbidden from using our Zanpakutou and Kidou outside class." Hitsugaya said.

"I punched you the last time already! Now I take about five minutes before hitting someone! It's a big improvement compared to my usual half an hour already... Really, Susu-chan. I'll be fine. Meet you at lunch later." Tayomi retorted before hurrying off to the Hoho training room.

Tayomi waited outside the Hoho training room for a while. Just then, someone tapped her on the shoulder, startling her. She was about to meet her mysterious sender at last. Inside, she was dying of curiosity, wanting to find out exactly who had sent her that weird doll and exactly what 'business' he or she had with her. Tayomi was positive that she had done nothing and hoped that it was just a misunderstanding to be cleared up. She turned around and saw a brunette girl, with short hair and green eyes. As expected, she was much taller than Tayomi. ( _I've grown used to feeling short around here already..._ Tayomi thought.) The girl looked so innocent and friendly, not like the type to send strange dolls to others and write threatening messages.

"Tayomi-san, do you know why you're here?" The girl asked slyly.

"Um... No. Who are you, anyway?" Tayomi replied defensively, feeling threatened.

"My name is Renayi Kagashune. And you, Tayomi-san, are responsible for my rage."

"Look... I think this a misunderstanding! I don't remember doing anything to you! In the first place, I don't even know you!" Tayomi was confused.

"You didn't do anything to me, but you did something to Kusaka-sama! So you have done something to me!" Renayi shouted. "I have been in love with Kusaka-sama ever since I saw him on the first day in The Spiritual Arts Academy... And I swore to make him mine. But you stole him from me and rejected him yesterday!"

"Oh yeah, I sort of did reject him..." Tayomi muttered to herself.

* * *

-FLASHBACK-

"Tayomi-chan, I love you!" Kusaka went on one knee and held her hand in the cafeteria. "Please be with me!"

Tayomi shook off his hand and screamed. "NO! NO NO NO NO NO!"

_Darn it. I should have reacted in a better way. I hope it doesn't affect his friendship with Hitsugaya..._

* * *

Tayomi was shocked. It was that incident in the cafeteria yesterday that had sparked off the whole issue. It was rather appalling that Renayi was willing to threaten a girl she did not know just because of Kusaka. Tayomi had always found anonymous threats childish and a complete waste of time. She knew she had to end it somehow.

"Look, if you want Kusaka, you can have him for all I care! I did nothing to you, can't we live in harmony?" Tayomi pleaded, hoping to resolve the issue peacefully.

"NO! NO NO NO NO NO!" Renayi mimicked the way Tayomi had rejected Kusaka in the cafeteria yesterday. "You won't get away with this. Watch your back, Tayomi Sakuri, you are officially my enemy now." With that, Renayi smirked and strutted off.

_What a nutcase... _Tayomi thought to herself. Right after she turned to head towards the cafeteria, she spotted a boy with white hair leaning against the wall near where she was.

It was Hitsugaya. He had heard the whole conversation.

* * *

Uh oh. Hitsugaya heard the whole thing! Surely he won't keep quiet... Find out what he said in the next chapter!  
Please review XD


	9. When the Truth Hurts

**CHAPTER 9: WHEN THE TRUTH HURTS**

"Susu-chan..." Tayomi gasped.

She hoped that she was hallucinating, but she certainly was not. Hitsugaya was leaning against the wall, giving her a cold stare. He was frozen in his position and she was frozen in hers. Tayomi stared at him, blinking a few times. She wondered what Hitsugaya was about to say, what he was about to do. It would be highly impossible that Hitsugaya would not say anything to her after hearing her say that she would gladly 'give' Kusaka to Renayi.

"You know, I was really hoping you would give Kusaka a chance. Is there really no way for you to accept him?" Hitsugaya asked, still giving her that icy stare.

Tayomi was rendered speechless for a moment. "I... I'm sorry. Now's not the best time for me to give you your answer. We're meeting in the evening for Hakuda practice before dinner, aren't we? I'll tell you then, alright?" Tayomi forced herself to smile.

Hitsugaya nodded and walked off. Tayomi gazed at him for a moment, before walking off to enjoy the remaining half an hour of her lunch break. She quickly found her friends and Kiseida and hurriedly ate her lunch before the next class.

* * *

Hoho class was quite a breeze for her. Being the art of moving quickly and training one's agility, learning Shunpo was like a walk in the park for Tayomi. Given her small size and her current agility, travelling twelve metres in all directions using Shunpo was not a daunting task. It was a lot easier than trying to beat someone up, at least. She was one of the fastest students in Class 1, having the same agility as Hitsugaya. Smiling to herself, Tayomi felt that she had finally found an advantage for being terribly short and 'vertically challenged' (as Hitsugaya had mentioned to her several times before).

Since they had the evening off, Tayomi and Hitsugaya had decided to practice Hakuda together after Hoho class. Although Tayomi could hit someone within five minutes now, it still was rather slow. If she was in battle and had to rely solely on Hakuda skills, she would have been killed. Hitsugaya told her that she had to be braver and hit him without hesitation, or else she would probably fail Hakuda class. Tayomi was well-aware of that and decided to heed his advice. She had been doing well in her other classes, there was no way she would let Hakuda bring her down that easily.

* * *

Tayomi walked into the garden, towards that tree. She saw Hitsugaya standing there, staring at her with his usual gaze. _I hope he won't get mad at my answer..._

"Hitsu-chan..." Tayomi smiled gently at him.

"The nicknames you give me keep on changing, don't they?" Hitsugaya snapped.

"It's called being creative. Anyway, I'm going to tell you the truth now. Please don't be angry when I tell you this."

"Fine." Hitsugaya sighed.

"Well, you see... I just don't like Kusaka. You keep telling me how awesome he is, but I just don't see it. And that stunt he pulled in the cafeteria was really too much. I was really embarrassed and whether Renayi threatened me or not, nothing would change. I just can't accept Kusaka." Tayomi blurted the whole truth out. "Also, I have a second reason for not accepting him. You know, we've been in the Academy for three months now, so don't laugh when I tell you this alright? And keep it a secret too."

"Fine." Hitsugaya grumbled.

"I... I like somebody else. My heart is already taken by him. Kusaka doesn't stand a chance against this guy at all." Tayomi admitted. Her face went red and she looked down at her feet. Hitsugaya kept quiet for a few moments, shocked at what Tayomi had just told him.

"I understand." Hitsugaya walked closer to Tayomi. "So, who is this guy?"

"Eh... I can't tell you." Tayomi looked up at Hitsugaya. "Yeah, I can't tell you."

"Does he know about your feelings towards him?" Hitsugaya asked.

"No... I daren't tell him. I don't know how he would react." Tayomi whispered meekly.

"I see." Hitsugaya was looking directly into Tayomi's eyes.

Tayomi could feel his turquoise eyes burning into her purplish-blue eyes. A warm sensation overwhelmed her and she felt as if time had stopped in their world. Whenever Hitsugaya and her eyes met, she had always felt this sensation and it never grew old. It never would grow old and Tayomi would never grow tired of it. She felt so messed up inside and she hated keeping secrets from her friends, but she knew that she wanted to keep this to herself. Usually, she was very open about most things, but this time, she did not intend to disclose the name of the boy she fell in love with to anyone. She was not afraid of what people would say about her, but rather what they would say about the boy.

She could sense a bit of hurt in Hitsugaya's eyes, but she could not tell him who she loved. Looking into his eyes, she had almost relented and wondered if she should tell him who the boy was. _There's no way I could tell him..._Tayomi sighed. _There's no way I can ever tell Hitsugaya that the guy I fell in love with was him. I don't want to destroy our friendship over my feelings for him. I'd rather stay best friends with him than tell him that I love him and have him avoid me for the rest of my life._

Tayomi smiled at him and told Hitsugaya that she would tell him about the boy when she was ready. Hitsugaya said nothing but she could still see the hurt in his eyes. She hated seeing him that way. It just hurt her even more and the pain in her heart was unbearable, but for the sake of their friendship, Tayomi promised herself that she would endure this pain and keep quiet about the identity of the boy she loved.

"By the way, Susu-chan, you told me that you met your Zanpakutou's spirit in a cave that night... Does that mean that you've finally achieved Shikai? What's the name of your Zanpakutou?" Tayomi asked cheerfully, trying to change the subject.

"Yes, I have," Hitsugaya replied. "What about it?"

"Just asking..." Tayomi responded. Hitsugaya paused for a moment.

"How about you?" Hitsugaya asked.

"I achieved my Shikai too... I met my Zanpakutou's spirit in my dreams before I came to the Academy and met her again at the beach, on the same night you met your Zanpakutou spirit. Just that I came on time to meet you, while you were late." Tayomi laughed. "If you tell me the name of your Zanpakutou, I'll tell you mine!"

Hitsugaya stared at her. _I guess it wouldn't hurt to tell her. _"Hyorinmaru. Now tell me yours."

"Cool!" Tayomi grinned. "The name of my Zanpakutou is..."

* * *

YAY WE'RE GONNA FIND OUT THE NAME OF TAYOMI'S ZANPAKUTOU! Find out the name of her Zanpakutou in the next chapter!  
There will be a lot of secrets about her Zanpakutou that will be revealed in the next arc (ARC,not chapter.), when she joins the Gotei 13 and rises up the ranks.

Please review :D Thanks!


	10. A Class Gathering

**CHAPTER 10: A CLASS GATHERING**

"Inazuma Kaze!" Tayomi squealed like an overexcited girl. Hitsugaya stared blankly at her.

"So, it's lightning-based?" Hitsugaya asked.

"Yeah! I think it's the first ever lightning-based Zanpakutou to ever appear in Soul Society! I love my Zanpakutou, it's lightning and wind-based, which makes it double elemental! OH I LOVE MY ZANPAKUTOU!" Tayomi screamed in sheer delight, going all out worshipping her Zanpakutou.

Just then, Hitsugaya swung his leg towards her. Tayomi instinctively blocked it with her hand, grabbed his leg and flipped him three hundred and sixty degrees. She stared at him, wondering why he suddenly attacked her all of a sudden. Hitsugaya would warn her before he attacked, most of the time. But for some unknown reason, he did not do so this time. _How weird, he didn't warn me this time..._

"Your reaction sure has improved. That's good." Hitsugaya said, upon seeing Tayomi's shocked expression. Tayomi smiled, before lunging at him with her fist. Swiftly, Hitsugaya blocked every single one of her attacks and attempted to kick her again. Tayomi dodged it by somersaulting backwards, before racing towards him to land a hit on him. They fought for two hours, before Tayomi realised that the sky was about to turn dark. Looking at the sky, she knew that evening was coming and that they had to go back to their rooms for a bath.

"Susu-chan, we have to hurry and get ready! The class gathering is probably going to start in like..." Tayomi continued staring at the sky, trying to estimate the time. "Forty-five minutes!"

Tayomi grabbed his hand and dragged him towards the dorm rooms. They went their separate ways, as Hitsugaya dashed into his room in the boys' dorm and Tayomi ran into her room in the girls' dorm. She saw that Kiseida was back in their room* and all ready to go. Grabbing the clean robes from her cabinet and a towel, Tayomi hurriedly took her bath, washed up and combed her hair. As she expected, she was all sweaty after running to her room from Hakuda practice. She felt rejuvenated after her shower and slipped her pink hairband back onto her head, before heading to the garden with Kiseida to meet her class.

* * *

By the time she and Kiseida reached the garden, she saw that most of the students from Class 1 had set up the picnic mat and the food. They would be munching on tempura, rice balls and other delicious snacks that they had bought from the cafeteria. She spotted Hitsugaya and Kusaka happily chatting together and she felt relieved, upon knowing that they were still friends and her rejection of Kusaka had not ruined their friendship.

Once all her classmates had arrived, they sat on the mat together and ate, chatting together just like a class. Tayomi could not stop smiling during this time, she felt as if she belonged in this class and everyone was so wonderful. She was happy to have such friendly classmates who could be serious and let their hair down as well. After their dinner, they quickly cleared up their food and decided to play truth or dare. They spun the bottle as everyone was forced to reveal their deepest secrets or do something embarrassing. Just then, the bottle had sun and pointed at Kusaka.

"I pick dare." Kusaka smiled, looking straight at Tayomi.

"Ooh..." Kiseida and the other girls squealed in delight.

"Hey Kusaka," Tayomi's classmate, Juunrui, shouted. "Why don't you confess to Tayomi again? This time, include why you like her!"

_Oh darn. As expected from Juunrui. He's such a crazy guy, I'm not surprised he would come up with such a dare. _Tayomi looked at Hitsugaya from the corner of her eye and saw him look at her with a hint of coldness in his eyes. She wondered what Hitsugaya was thinking, because she could somehow tell that he was worried about her, from the way he looked at her. Tayomi felt one of her nightmares come to life, as Kusaka went down on one knee again and spoke.

"Tayomi-chan, I love you because you're adorable, pretty and cute. You're so smart and talented as well..." Kusaka's words drained out as Tayomi turned a deaf ear to his second confession. She did not intend to hear Kusaka speak like that again and perturbed her. Once Kusaka went back to his seat, Tayomi hid her anger from the rest of her class as the bottle was spun once again. This time, it landed on Hitsugaya. Hitsugaya picked truth, silently wondering why he was involving himself in such a stupid game.

"Hitsugaya! Kusaka's your close friend and Tayomi's your close friend, have you ever tried to convince Tayomi to accept Kusaka?" Kiseida asked out of curiosity.

Hitsugaya pondered for a moment before giving his reply. "Yes."

The whole class laughed and squealed. Hitsugaya spun the bottle and it finally landed on Tayomi. Her nerves were killing her inside. She was desperately hoping that they would not ask her anything about Kusaka or Hitsugaya. But things did not look so good. Even if Kiseida would let her off, there was no way Juunrui would let her off. Maybe if she picked a dare, she would be able to get off the hook?

"Hm... I think I'll do a dare then!" Tayomi giggled.

"Ahh Tayomi, since you refused Kusaka, it makes finding a dare for you much harder, you know. Oh well, Hitsugaya's your good friend right? Okay then, Tayomi, give your good friend a hug! And Kusaka, don't be jealous, alright?" Juunrui spoke light-heartedly.

_I have to hug him. Now I didn't see that coming at all. _Tayomi felt nervous and slowly walked up to Hitsugaya, kneeling before him. She felt herself looking into his eyes again and him looking back into hers. _My looking into his eyes is really becoming a habit. _She slowly leaned forward and curled her arms around his neck. She felt his arms around her waist and they stayed in that position for a few seconds, before Tayomi backed away and returned to her seat. She knew her face was burning up and about to turn bright pink, causing her to cover her cheeks with her hands.

Before she knew it, the night was over and they had to return to their rooms. She bid farewell to her classmates and waved goodbye to them, as they made their separate ways towards their respective rooms.

"Tayomi-chan, so how was it?" Kiseida asked.

"Huh?" Tayomi replied, in confusion.

"The hug. How did it feel like to hug your good friend? And you really won't accept Kusaka?"

"No, Seida-chan..." Tayomi smiled. "I really don't like Kusaka. As for the hug, well it was alright. It's just a hug between friends, so it's fine."

Tayomi smiled to herself. To her, it was more than a hug between friends. It was a hug she gave to someone who held an important place in her heart.

* * *

*Kiseida and Tayomi are roommates. Kusaka and Hitsugaya (sadly) aren't roommates...

* * *

Yay so that's Chapter 10! Hope you all liked it! Please review :D I love hearing your thoughts about my story!

I'm super happy to know that I've finally gotten my first review! Thank you **FuzzyShadowFoxx** :D Also many thanks to **Reason to Scatter, FuzzyShadowFoxx, Maii04 **and** mydnightfox **for adding me to your Story Alert/ Favourite Story list :D

Most importantly, I really have to thank **JazionKeera** for inspiring me to start writing again. Haha, after spamming me with your stories, I finally decided to get out of hiatus and start writing again :) Do check out her stories, they're really really good!

I think the tone of the story has been a little serious lately, so next Chapter I will make it more light-hearted...It's April Fools Day, which means it's time for pranks! I wonder what pranks Tayomi will pull on Hitsugaya? Find out in the next chapter! :D (But the romance will still be in that chapter XD )


	11. Pranked

**CHAPTER 11: PRANKED**

Tayomi opened her eyes wide, lying on her bed and hugging her favourite pink bunny soft toy. Today was a much dreaded day for her. Today was a horror which came to life every year on the same day. It was April Fools' Day and judging by the personality of her classmates, she was sure that everyone had a prank in store for their friends. Although it would be fun to play pranks on their instructors, but it was a nightmare having pranks played on you.

Tayomi smiled. Everything was about to change this year. _I might be horrible at playing pranks, all my pranks usually fail and everyone ends up playing pranks on me... But this year, that is all going to change! _Tayomi had prepared herself for this day, planning her pranks and making sure they were perfect. She was tired of being such a bad prankster and was determined to have a good April Fools this year. No more failed pranks. No more mistakes. This year, she would have fun on April Fools, just like everyone else. Kiseida and her had teamed up and made up a whole list of pranks just for that special day. There was no way that they would let their plans go to waste.

Kiseida and Tayomi entered the classroom early in the morning. As expected, no one was in class yet. Kiseida giggled softly and took out a stick of glue. Tayomi took out hers and they began smearing the glue on everybody's seat, including the instructor's. She wondered how hilarious it would be, seeing everyone stuck to their seats. Tayomi happily smeared the glue all over everybody's seat, not realising that she had glued Kiseida's and her seat as well.

"Yomi-chan!" Kiseida smacked Tayomi on the back. "You glued our seat too!"

"Huh?" Tayomi looked down and realised that she had smeared glue on her seat. She went over to Kiseida's seat and discovered that she had smeared glue on it as well. "Ahhhh! I didn't realise at all... Sorry!"

Kiseida sighed, saying it was alright and it would make them less suspicious as well. That way, no one would know who had smeared the glue on their seats, except for Kiseida and Tayomi themselves. Kiseida and Tayomi hid in the toilet until the bell had rung and all the students of Class 1 had started filing into the classroom. Kiseida and Tayomi entered the classroom and stood at their seats, awaiting Onabara's arrival.

* * *

"Good morning everyone!" Onabara sensei greeted the class.

"GOOD MORNING, ONABARA SENSEI!" Class 1 shouted happily, before bursting into laughter. The day before, the class had decided to play a joint prank on Onabara sensei, by shouting out every word they said for the whole day. Onabara motioned for everyone to sit down and started taking attendance.

"Juunrui Higatou?"

"HERE, SENSEI!" Juunrui yelled at the top of his lungs. As Onabara went down the list of students, everyone was 'making their presence heard', except for Hitsugaya. Tayomi had to poke him a few times before he finally shouted.

"You really have nothing better to do, don't you?" Hitsugaya grumbled.

"Come on, it's April Fools' Day! At least try and have some fun!" Tayomi whispered to him.

Hitsugaya huffed and got back to his notebook. Tayomi smiled and took out hers. Onabara started teaching and the students of Class 1 began furiously noting down every single word he said. As she was on high, Tayomi was extremely focused during Onabara's class. She was waiting for class to end, excited to see the fruits of Kiseida's and her labour. Before she knew it, the bell rang and everyone stood up in their seat.

"Hey, I'm stuck!"

"I can't get up!"

"I'm stuck to my seat." Hitsugaya mumbled, glaring at Tayomi.

"What's with that glare, Susu-chan?" Tayomi asked him, trying to look innocent. "I'm stuck too!"

Fifteen minutes later, everyone in Class 1 had finally managed to detach themselves from their seats and bid farewell to Onabara sensei at maximum volume.

* * *

At Hoho training, everyone was getting ready to practice Shunpo. That day, they would be broken up into groups and would be competing against each other in a relay. Hitsugaya, Tayomi, Kiseida and Kusaka were put into the same group. As all of them were quite proficient in Shunpo, they were confident of winning the relay. Little did they know that their instructor had a surprise in store for them!

"Among your groups of four, please pair up and use this string to tie your legs together," the instructor spoke as he handed out long pieces of strings to each group. "You will be racing with your legs tied to each other. Only after you have ran the relay once, can you untie the string. So basically, after each pair in the group has ran, you will start running separately. Alright?"

The instructions were complicated but Tayomi understood. Her group had decided that Tayomi and Hitsugaya would go first, followed by Kusaka and Kiseida. After which, Hitsugaya would run, then Tayomi, Kiseida and Kusaka. Feeling confident, Tayomi tied the string around Hitsugaya's and her leg. _I can't believe we're having a two-legged race during Hoho class..._

"START!" The instructor signalled and everyone was off. Everyone was slipping and sliding on the floor, as they had to use Shunpo while their legs were tied to someone else's leg. Needless to say, Tayomi and Hitsugaya had fallen several times, before managing to coordinate with each other and speeding back. However, they still slipped on their way back. Kiseida and Kusaka had seemed to be able find their rhythm as well, but tripped and fell many times. Once they returned, Hitsugaya used Shunpo and raced off. However, he had slipped and fell many times for an unknown reason. Tayomi glanced at the other groups and saw that everyone else was slipping and sliding all over the place. After much struggling, Hitsugaya managed to make it back and Tayomi raced off, determined not to slip.

"Eeek!" Tayomi squealed as she slid across the floor. The floor was extremely slippery! She wondered how she had not realised how slippery the floor was before and assumed that it was due to her thinking that they were falling down because they were uncoordinated. _So it's the floor's fault... _Tayomi struggled back and watched as Kiseida and Kusaka were forced into the same situation as Hitsugaya and her. After the race, everyone was panting and complaining about the slippery floor, comparing the number of times they fell.

"Happy April Fools' Day!" The Hoho instructors exclaimed. Tayomi was shocked and unable to take in what she had just heard. _They played a prank on us!_

* * *

In the evening, Tayomi had one last, special prank to pull off before she was done for the day. She watched Hitsugaya enter the classroom to meet her. Tayomi had told him that she wanted to talk to him in private and forced him to meet her in class before dinner.

"You wanted to talk to me?" Hitsugaya pulled out his chair and sat down. Once he sat down, a loud sound echoed throughout the classroom. At that moment, Hitsugaya realised that he had just become a victim of a prank. He looked at Tayomi and saw her make a futile attempt to suppress her laughter. Tayomi gave him a quick cuddle and had an evil grin on her face.

"Happy April Fools' Day, Susu-chan!" Tayomi smiled, before using Shunpo to make a quick escape out of the classroom.

"TAYOMI!"

* * *

**Author's Note:  
**LOL I hoped you liked this chapter! I decided to bring back a very memorable item from the Bount Arc (Anime only) from Bleach... THE BOO BOO CUSHION!  
Like Tayomi, I'm quite a failure at playing April Fools' pranks so I was hoping that I wouldn't mess up this chapter... Poor Hitsugaya got pranked :D  
Please continue to review! XD  
Next chapter...We're finally going to draw a link between this story and the Bleach:Diamond Dust Rebellion! So for those who watched the movie, you know what's going to happen... How will Tayomi take this? Find out in the next chapter :D


	12. Frozen Tears

**CHAPTER 12: FROZEN TEARS**

_Where have you been these few days? Why didn't you come?_

Tayomi stared at the empty seat beside her. She had been terribly lonely during these few days of class. Hitsugaya had not turned up for class for three days and she was very worried. Kusaka had mysteriously disappeared as well. Everything was very strange and the most surprising thing was that none of her classmates had seemed to notice it. Tayomi grew more curious by the second and decided to pay Hitsugaya a little visit at night.

* * *

In the middle of the night, Tayomi woke up and snuck out of her room, being careful as to not wake Kiseida up. Once she was out of the door, she followed the corridor's lights and walked towards the boys' dormitory. The Spiritual Arts Academy at night could be really creepy, as the atmosphere was cold and dark. Only the chirping of crickets and her own footsteps could be heard. Trying to bear with the chill of the night, Tayomi quickly made her way towards Hitsugaya's room. She attempted to feel his reiatsu and not before long, she found his room. Quietly, she pushed the door open and walked towards him.

Hitsugaya was still fast asleep. Though he was in slumber land, Tayomi could see that he felt troubled about something. Moonlight entered through the window and shone on Hitsugaya's snow white hair, which made him look like a little boy sleeping. Tayomi knew she would feel bad if she were to wake him up and decided not to wake him up. Instead, she fished out a scrap piece of paper from his dustbin and wrote a note to him.

"_Hey, are you okay? If you want to talk, just look for me under the tree where we first met, after dinner. From your friend, Tayomi.  
P.S. Don't worry, I won't bring any boo boo cushions... April Fools' Day is over."_

Tayomi sneaked back to her room. Hopefully, Hitsugaya could shed some light on what was going on and make her stop worrying.

* * *

Hitsugaya finally came to school the next day. Tayomi tried to talk to him, but all he did was respond with a nod, shake his head or not respond at all. He was even colder than he usually was and it made Tayomi feel uneasy. At Hakuda class, his reaction was much slower than usual and Tayomi ended up punching him more times than she usually did. Hitsugaya's reaction was almost instant most of the time, but this time he was slow. At Zanjutsu class, he seemed distracted and he was unable to block most of her attacks. Tayomi ended up knocking him to the ground quite a few times, instead of the match ending in a draw, like it usually did. As for Kidou class, he missed the targets quite a few times. Hitsugaya was definitely distracted and his unusual lack of focus that day made Tayomi even more curious. She knew that she had to bear with it until after dinner and hope that he would meet her then.

* * *

Tayomi sat under the tree after dinner, watching the sky turn from a light blue shade into hues of pink, orange and pale blue. The sun set in the west and the moon started to show itself, as the sky slowly turned into a darker shade of blue. She leaned against the tree and closed her eyes, listening to the rustling of the leaves and the light breeze brush against her face. Her ears picked up the rustling of leaves getting louder in volume. Slowly, she opened her eyes and turned her head to see Hitsugaya walk towards her. Tayomi stood up and walked towards him.

"Susu-chan, what's wrong?" She asked.

Hitsugaya kept silent for a while before a tears started streaming down his face.

"Susu-chan..." Tayomi walked up to him and grabbed his hands. The both of them sat down and Hitsugaya finally began to speak for the first time that day.

"Kusaka...He...He's gone..." Hitsugaya sobbed. Stuttering and sniffling, Hitsugaya explained everything that had happened. According to the Central 46 members, no two Shinigami were allowed to have the same Zanpakutou and they were forced to have a duel to the death. Neither of them knew of that and never intended to violate the law. Hitsugaya had offered to give up Hyourinmaru, but the Central 46 forced them to battle for Hyourinmaru. Kusaka had raised his Zanpakutou and charged at him, as he wanted Hyourinmaru for himself. In the end, the Central 46 had stopped the battle before Kusaka could attack Hitsugaya and declared Hitsugaya the rightful owner of Hyourinmaru. Kusaka was killed immediately. Tayomi gasped, shedding tears as well. Although she hated Kusaka for being such a jerk, she ultimately felt that he did not deserve such a tragic end to his life. _The Central 46 probably wanted to see who would raise his blade first... Still, I can't believe such a thing could happen._

Tayomi promised Hitsugaya that she would not tell anyone about this matter. It was better not for anyone to know. After all, the more people knew, the more complicated it would be. Since the Central 46 members had met Kusaka and Hitsugaya in private, it was likely that they did not intend to let anyone know what happened and it would be expected that no one should know of the matter.

Hitsugaya continued crying. Tayomi was at a loss as well, but she knew that somehow she had to console her best friend and herself as well. Her classmate was gone and even though he was the most horrible boy she ever knew, he was her classmate after all and she mourned his passing. Tayomi squeezed Hitsugaya's hands and took him into her arms, running her hands through his hair. She felt raindrops fall on her hair and face, before it started to pour. The rain further evoked her emotions and she started crying profusely as well, while hugging Hitsugaya. Hitsugaya's hands were around her waist and one of her hands was on his back, the other still running through his hair.

"Hey, you told me that crying is for the weak..." Tayomi whispered into his ear. Hitsugaya looked at her and Tayomi smiled gently at him, wiping away his tears. "Don't cry, alright?"

Hitsugaya still had tears in his eyes and Tayomi patted his head. She got up and held his hand, pulling him back up onto his feet.

"You'll be okay..." Tayomi smiled, as she held his hand and walked out of the garden. She let go of his hand and patted his head. "Promise me you won't cry, alright? I have to go back now... If you want to talk about it, you know I'll always be there to listen to your troubles."

With that, Tayomi smiled at him for the last time that day, before running back to her room. Hitsugaya looked at Tayomi's silhouette, as she ran off into the girls' dorm. He gave a slight smile, before turning and walking back to his room.

* * *

**Author's note:  
**Well...Kusaka is gone now T.T Even though I'm not much of a Kusaka fan, it's still quite sad. He was faithful in serving Soul Society. For the next chapter, the students of Class 1 will face something that is dreaded all over the Universe... EXAMS! :D  
Yup they're about to have their Mid-term exams and Tayomi will find out a shocking truth! Stay tuned and please review! XD


	13. Tested and Shocked

**CHAPTER 13: TESTED AND SHOCKED**

Tayomi was sprawled out on her bed, with a pile of books surrounding her. As she read and revised the incantations for the various Kidou spells, she twirled her pen with her fingers, with her eyes still focused solely on the book. Across the room, Kiseida was sitting on her bed as well, holding her book in front of her face and absorbing the knowledge that it had provided her.

_I can't believe I've been in this school for five months already... _Tayomi sighed. She closed her book and let her head fall on top of it, closing her eyes. She wondered why she was still up studying at such an unearthly hour, even though she had revised her notes several times and knew everything like the back of her hand. Letting out a yawn, she forced herself to get up and placed her books on the table, before finally going to bed.

"Goodnight, Seida-chan..." Tayomi spoke as if she was half-dead. "Don't sleep too late, we've got an exam to sit for tomorrow..." With that, she slipped into her bed and hid herself under the warm blanket, burying her face in her bunny soft toy. Judging by the amount of studying she did, she knew she should be confident and end up with good results.

* * *

Like every other morning, the students of Class 1 filed into the classroom. Only this time, there was an air of tension and suspense among the students. The classroom was silent and all those who entered the classroom went straight to their seat, sat down on their seat and studied. Tayomi walked into the classroom and seeing everyone study just added to her nerves. She took out her notebook and revised the notes she took down during Onabara's class. At the corner of her eye, she quickly glanced at Hitsugaya, who was studying with the same straight expression on his face. Inside, she was a bit worried for him. Hitsugaya was a prodigy and everyone knew that, but even prodigies had emotions. It had been two weeks since Kusaka passed away and she hoped that his passing would not affect Hitsugaya's focus during the exam.

Not before long, everyone's tables were separated and Onabara had handed out the papers to everyone. The classroom was silent, except for the sound of pencils scribbling on paper. Tayomi read at the questions and all the knowledge she had learnt from the past few months came rushing back to her. _Yes! I can remember my work! AWESOME! _She breezed through the paper, writing down her answers at an insane speed. Although she felt slightly insecure at how easy the paper was, worrying that she had made a few careless mistakes, she was sure of herself and trusted her memory. After looking through her paper and checking several times, Onabara finally announced that the paper had come to an end and ordered everyone to put down their pencils. As he collected the exam scripts, Tayomi heaved a sigh of relief. That was one exam down and four more to go.

By the afternoon, all the exams were over. Hoho was alright, Zanjutsu was quite simple, Kidou was a breeze and though Hakuda was her weakest link, Tayomi felt that she it was manageable. She smiled to herself and left the classroom, after Onabara sensei had instructed them to come back to the classroom after dinner. Once she stepped out of the classroom, she saw Renayi standing outside, motioning for Tayomi to come over. Cautiously, Tayomi walked towards her and Renayi immediately pulled her to the garden.

"I'm here to tell you something, Tayomi Sakuri-san." Renayi snickered. "A few weeks ago, I confronted Kusaka and asked him why he liked you."

"You did what?" Tayomi was in shock.

"Yes, believe it or not, I did ask him. He told me that he wasn't a bit interested in you at all. In fact, he hated you." Renayi laughed. "He was just making a fool out of you and said you reacted in very interesting ways."

"Well then, good for you. You liked him, didn't you?"

"But now he has left the school..." Renayi sighed. "So I just want you to know, Kusaka-sama does not like you, alright? Therefore, I hold nothing against you, since your rejecting him was part of his fun anyway." Renayi stalked off.

_What a strange girl... But I'm glad no one treats me as an enemy now. _Tayomi smiled to herself and turned around to see Hitsugaya leaning against the wall, looking at her. She walked over to Hitsugaya and ruffled his hair, much to Hitsugaya's annoyance. After which, she grabbed him by the hand and pulled him towards the cafeteria.

"So, your feud with that girl is resolved?" Hitsugaya asked.

"Yeah..." Tayomi replied. She had expected him to question what Renayi had said about Kusaka but since Hitsugaya said nothing, Tayomi decided to keep quiet and not ask any questions.

* * *

After dinner, the class returned to the classroom, awaiting Onabara's return. Everyone was in constant speculation, wondering why they had been called back to the classroom at night. Just then, Onabara entered the classroom, ready to answer everyone's burning questions. Everyone had their eyes glued onto him, waiting for him to speak.

"Well students, I have called you back here for a reason." Onabara spoke. "Your exams are not done. As you are part of the Special Accelerated Program, you still have one more task to clear and it will be completed tomorrow. We are going to the living world for a field training exercise. There, you will apply everything you have learnt and conduct combat training with dummy hollows within the barrier we will create in the living world. Your seniors will be watching over you and giving comments on your performance. Other than that, they will not assist you in combat and you will be on your own. Obtaining good marks for this training exercise can boost your overall scores, so please do well and treat this exercise seriously. I will now hand out some cards to you. Once you have gotten your card, form a group with those who have the same marking as yours. However, I will tell you that due to the number of students in the class this year, there will be a group containing two members. The other groups will be made up of three members."

Onabara handed out the cards. Tayomi looked at hers. She showed her card to Hitsugaya and he showed her his. They had the same markings on their cards. After asking the other students around them, they were unable to find their third member.

"I think we're part of the special group containing two members, Susu-chan..." Tayomi gasped.

"I think we are." Hitsugaya answered. "And stop calling me that."

"Of course...Not! " Tayomi replied cheekily.

"Well then, you may all return to your rooms now and please get a good night's rest. It will be a tiring day tomorrow!" Onabara told the class.

* * *

**Author's Note:  
**YAY NEXT CHAPTER IS FIELD TRAINING! :D I'm excited!  
Please review XD Stay tuned to the next chapter to find out how Tayomi's field training went!


	14. Mass Assault

**CHAPTER 14: MASS ASSAULT**

_Here I am... In the real world, on a training mission, out to kill some dummy hollows! _Tayomi surveyed the area, with Hitsugaya walking alongside her. It was night time in the living world and it was hard to see anything. If not for the moonlight guiding them and revealing their surroundings to them, Tayomi would have probably tripped over everything and banged into anything that stood in front of her. Just then, she spotted a small hollow crawling towards them.

"Bakudou 4, Hainawa!"

She sent an energy rope at the hollow, entangling it. Using one hand to hold the rope, Tayomi placed her other hand over the rope and spoke.

"Hadou 11, Tsuzuri Raiden!" The electric current flowed down the rope, all the way to the hollow. Upon contact with the current, the hollow exploded and disintegrated. Tayomi was in sheer delight. She had been undergoing five months of Kidou training and was able to mix Kidou spells together already. Onabara described mixing Kidou spells to be 'the mark of a skilled user' and when he discovered that she could already mix Kidou spells, he called her a prodigy at Kidou and told her that if she continued to work hard, she could probably graduate early. She turned around and saw another hollow flying towards her, ready to attack. Just as she was about to unsheathe her Zanpakutou, it was cut into half by Hitsugaya.

"Keep your focus and watch your back, Tayomi." Hitsugaya advised her.

"Sorry..." Tayomi sighed. "I was just too happy after I managed to combined those spells. I think I've finally mastered the art of combining Kidou spells..."

"Good for you. Let's go." Hitsugaya replied coldly, before strapping his Zanpakutou onto his back and walking off.

"Eh heh! Susu-chan! Wait for me!" She yelled, running after him.

Not far from them, on the tower above, something was watching them. A group of sixth-year students manning the area looked up at it, only to be knocked over and have their bodies slashed, instantly killing them. Their blood dripped down the tower, onto Tayomi's and Hitsugaya's heads. Tayomi instantly noticed something drop onto her head and looked at Hitsugaya, who seemed to have noticed it as well. His snow white hair had a drop of red liquid in it. She looked up, only to see a hand hanging over the railing, bleeding. At the exact same moment, she heard a defeaning roar.

* * *

"There's a hollow in the vicinity!" Izuru Kira called out to his team mates, Hinamori Momo and Abarai Renji.

"What?" Renji was in shock and anger. "But why wasn't it detected?"

"I don't know, but we'd better go there and make sure none of the first-year students are there!"

Hinamori, Renji and Kira rushed off the the area where the hollow was situated in.

* * *

Tayomi looked up at the hollow. It was black and towering over her. She knew she had seen it in her textbook. _It's a Menos Grande..._ She knew that this hollow was not part of the training exercise and had gate-crashed the area. The Menos Grande roared again and started moving towards them. Tayomi could not believe the situation she was in. Here she was with Hitsugaya, being ambushed by a Menos Grande. Even though they were considered geniuses, they were not living up to their full potential yet. There was still a lot to learn before they could fight at their absolute fullest strength and they were nowhere near that standard yet. After all, they had been at the Academy for only five months! And now they were expected to kill a real hollow? _One way or another, if we don't do anything, those hollows will kill us... But if we fight back, we might survive. _

Tayomi looked at Hitsugaya and he looked back at her. They both unsheathed their Zanpakutou and knew what was on each other's minds. Simultaneously, they charged at the hollow, raising their blades. They slashed the Menos Grande several times, causing it to roar and prepare to fire a Cero from its mouth. Tayomi stared at the red, glowing ball which was about to be fired at Hitsugaya and her. Instinctively, she pushed him out of the way, causing the Cero to be blasted one metre away from them.

"We have to end it quickly now..." Tayomi told Hitsugaya, as she raised her arm, aiming it at the Menos Grande's mask. "Are you thinking what I'm thinking?"

Hitsugaya nodded and raised his arm as well.

"Hadou 31, Shakkaho!" The blast of red fire hit the Menos Grande square it the face, causing it to disintegrate and disappear. Tayomi heaved a sigh of relief upon taking down the hollow. She walked over to Hitsugaya to ask if he was injured, but another roar was heard right before she could open her mouth to ask.

* * *

"One of the hollows has been taken out...But another hollow has appeared in the same area!" Hinamori told Kira and Renji.

"The hollow...It's there!" Renji pointed at it.

"It's an Adjuchas!" Kira shouted.

"And that's Shiro-chan down there!" Hinamori pointed downwards at Hitsugaya, who was face-to-face with the bulky hollow. "And there's another student down there with him!"

Kira watched the girl fire a Kidou spell at the Adjuchas. "That student... I think I know who she is!"

"Only one student can fire a Kidou spell that strong... It must be Tayomi Sakuri." Renji replied. "I heard that she destroyed seven targets and three walls at her first Kidou practice using Shakkaho!"

"We should stop talking and help her and Shiro-chan!" Hinamori shouted at them, before dashing off to help Hitsugaya and Tayomi.

* * *

Tayomi mixed Horin* and Sokatsui** together and trapped the Adjuchas, allowing the tendrils to explode with a burst blue energy, with the Adjuchas still entangled, damaging the Adjuchas slightly. Tayomi was surprised that the Adjuchas was barely scratched by her spells. Just then, she was a blast of red fire hit the Adjuchas, out of nowhere. She turned around to see three of her seniors run towards her.

"Are you alright?" A girl with pigtails asked her.

"Hinamori?" Hitsugaya asked. "Is that you?"

"Shiro-chan! Are you alright?" Hinamori asked him.

Hitsugaya rolled his eyes. "It is you..."

"We have to hold this hollow off, the two of you should get out of here!" The red-haired senior told them. Tayomi did not feel good letting her seniors risk their lives to allow her to live and shook her head stubbornly, positive that she would be of help to them. Hitsugaya refused to leave as well. The blond-haired senior sighed and tried to persuade them to go, but both of them stood rooted in their positions, unwilling to leave.

"Kira! Renji! Why aren't they going?" Hinamori shouted, as she fired another Kidou spell at the Adjuchas.

"They refuse to go!" Kira shouted back.

"Stand back, Hinamori." Hitsugaya ordered Hinamori to stand back, much to Hinamori's confusion. Tayomi knew what he was about to do and decided to follow suit.

"Senpai, don't worry about us. Please let us try something!" Tayomi reassured Renji, Kira and Hinamori before raising her blade horizontally.

"Soten ni zase***, Hyourinmaru!" Hitsugaya spoke under his breath. A long metal chain with a crescent shape blade appeared, attached to the hilt of his Zanpakutou. The blade extended itself slightly and Hitsugaya's reiatsu started to leak, just like it did during their first Zanjutsu training. Hitsugaya glanced at Tayomi, wondering what her Shikai looked like.

Tayomi's reiatsu started to leak, as she glowed with a pale yellow aura surrounding her. She gripped her Zanpakutou, ready to release it and destroy that Adjuchas.

"Ikkimaku, Inazuma Kaze!"

* * *

**TRANSLATIONS:  
***Bakudou 9: Disintegrating Circle  
** Hadou 33: Blue fire, Crash down  
*** Sit upon the frozen heavens  
****Rage, Lightning Wind

* * *

**Author's note:  
**No, you don't need to pinch yourselves or anything!Tayomi IS going to release her Shikai! Kira, Renji and Hinamori have officially entered the storyline! Though Kira and Renji won't appear much in this story, Hinamori will have more appearances (I used to support HitsuHina until I felt that they were just really close friends...) I have waited so long for this moment to come because it's going to be fun describing her Zanpakutou's released form! I'll update ASAP, I can't wait to let you see her release! :D  
Please review!


	15. Mass Assault II

**CHAPTER 15: MASS ASSAULT II**

Tayomi's blade started to split open down the middle, bending away to reveal a black katana. As for the blade which split open and bent away, its edges curved up and down to form razor-sharp spikes and became pale yellow in colour. The chain and ribbon attached to the hilt of her Zanpakutou curled around her wrist, securing itself to her arm. She looked at Kira, Renji and Hinamori, who were clearly dumbstruck.

"Ropu.*" Tayomi held her Zanpakutou back and lunged it forward, sending out a bolt of lightning which wrapped around the Adjuchas. The Adjuchas attempted to break the lightning bolt and failed, putting a smile on Tayomi's face. She looked at Hitsugaya, awaiting his attack while the enemy could not move. Hitsugaya waved his blade, sending an ice dragon towards the Adjuchas and freezing it immediately. However, the Adjuchas let out a roar and broke out of both the ice and the lightning bolt. It charged towards Hitsugaya and Tayomi, sending them flying. Hitsugaya landed on top of Tayomi, his nose touching hers. For a moment, they were staring straight into each other's eyes and were breathing the same air. Hitsugaya got up immediately and so did Tayomi.

"I can't believe he broke out of that..." Tayomi sighed and ran towards the Adjuchas. "Looks like I have to try harder... By the way, how did you get to know Hinamori-senpai?"

"We were childhood friends." Hitsugaya replied, before sending another ice dragon at the Adjuchas.

"Datsu.**" Tayomi sent darts comprised of lightning bolts at the Adjuchas. Kira, Renji and Hinamori joined in the battle, firing Kidou spells and slashing the Adjuchas furiously. The Adjuchas attempted to fight back, attacking them and preparing to fire Cero whenever it had the chance to. But with five shinigami against it, the Adjuchas did not stand a chance and was taken down quickly. It disintegrated right after Hitsugaya sent another ice dragon at it. Tayomi sighed and a wave of relief swept over her. She looked at Hinamori-senpai and noticed that her hand was injured. Tayomi ran over to Hinamori and started healing her. A green light was formed over Hinamori's wound as Tayomi healed her injury.

"Thank you, Tayomi-chan." Hinamori said. "You were great back there."

"Yeah, since when did you get your Shikai?" Renji asked.

"You've only been attending the Academy for five months and you're already this good. I guess the rumours were true. The both of you truly are prodigies." Kira smiled.

* * *

After the training exercise, Class 1 returned to the Spiritual Arts Academy, looking forward to take a nice bath and get some sleep. Hitsugaya and Tayomi were called to Onabara's office. _It's probably regarding the hollows' attack... _Tayomi knocked on Onabara's door, before entering his office with Hitsugaya.

"I heard that you were attacked by a Menos Grande and Adjuchas." Onabara spoke with concern in his voice. "And according to your seniors, you managed to take both hollows down using your Shikai."

Tayomi and Hitsugaya nodded. Tayomi was still frozen by her nerves, wondering what Onabara sensei would say about their achieving Shikai.

"I'm sure both of you know that you are very gifted Shinigami, who will probably become seated Shinigami in future, maybe even Captains. Please continue to work hard. I will report your achievements to Captain Commander Yanamoto. I am quite sure that as long as both of you keep up the good work, you should be able to graduate within this year. You may both take your leave now."

Hitsugaya and Tayomi nodded, before exiting Onabara's office. Once they were out, Tayomi pounced onto Hitsugaya and hugged him tight.

"Did you hear that? If we keep working hard, we could graduate within THIS YEAR!" Tayomi cheered. "YAY!"

"Yes, I heard." Hitsugaya replied coldly. "Let go before you suffocate me."

"You can be such a wet blanket sometimes." Tayomi huffed, before letting him go. "Aren't you happy to hear such news?"

"Yeah, I am..." Hitsugaya sighed. Tayomi forced his mouth into a smile and skipped off to her room. Hitsugaya looked at her. _She can be so weird sometimes, but most of the time, she's actually quite adorable. _He saw Tayomi run back to him.

"I forgot to drag you off. Sorry!" She giggled, before dragging him off towards their dorms.

_Yeah... She really is adorable. _Hitsugaya smiled to himself and let Tayomi drag him away.

* * *

**Translations:  
***Ropu: rope  
** Datsu: darts

* * *

**Author's note:  
**Well, this chapter is rather short. Since she just learnt her Shikai, it isn't that strong yet and she hasn't learnt all the attacks in her Shikai. You'll definitely see more as the story progresses on though :D Please review! :D


	16. Before the Summer

**CHAPTER 16: BEFORE THE SUMMER**

"Awesome!" Tayomi squealed in delight, looking at her exam results. She had aced every single subject, including Hakuda. Kidou was undoubtedly her strongest subject, followed by Hoho, Zanjutsu and Hakuda. She had done well for her written test as well, scoring ninety seven percent. Hitsugaya had gotten the same marks as her for the written test, but had scored better in Zanjutsu and Hakuda. Overall, they had the same marks and scored the best results out of their whole class. Onabara appeared to be very pleased with their results. Tayomi still remembered his words and promised herself that she would work hard in order to graduate early and join the Gotei 13 as early as possible.

The summer holiday was nearing and Tayomi had not decided what to do yet. There was no one to go home to, since her parents and brother had died. Whenever she went home, the house would be empty, like it had been ever since their deaths. Her brother was beaten to death and her parents had been devoured by hollows when she was a child. Her parents and brother became the reason why she wanted to become a Shinigami. Tayomi wanted so much to protect those who meant a lot to her.

* * *

Tayomi and Hitsugaya sat under the tree after their dinner to look at the stars. Tonight, the stars refused to come out, except for a few which sparkled in the night sky. Under the sky, she felt so small and back home, she would feel nothing but loneliness without anyone to keep her company.

"So, are you going anywhere for the summer holidays?" Tayomi asked Hitsugaya.

"I'm going back to visit my Granny...Hinamori's going too, but only for a few days. She told me she wanted to study for her end of year exams. " Hitsugaya replied. Tayomi sighed. Inside she felt a little sad and wondered what he really thought of Hinamori. Hinamori and Hitsugaya seemed exceptionally close and Tayomi wondered how they felt towards each other. She never wanted to ruin a perfect love and was afraid that she might possibly ruin the relationship between Hitsugaya and Hinamori, if they really liked each other. Just then, she noticed Hitsugaya waving his hand in front of her face.

"Well, are you going back to visit your parents?" Hitsugaya asked.

"I don't have parents... They were devoured by hollows when I was a kid." Tayomi sighed, leaning against the tree and looking back up at the sky.

"I'm sorry." Hitsugaya apologised. Tayomi smiled and shook her head, staring at the stars.

* * *

There were ten days left before the summer holiday started. Kiseida was going back to her hometown and asked Tayomi if she wanted to go with her. Tayomi told Kiseida she would think about it, since several friends had asked Tayomi if she wanted to go with them. Tayomi still had not decided who she wanted to go with and wondered if it was even alright to go. If there was one thing she hated, it was feeling awkward. She considered going back to her hometown and finding out if her cousin had returned. Maybe if he had returned, she would not be so lonely. But he had been working at another district and she was not sure if he had returned yet. He came back about once a month, sometimes once every six months. Tayomi decided to send him a letter to ask him.

A few days later, she finally got a reply. He assured Tayomi that he would be coming back on the third week of her summer holiday. Tayomi smiled. Being alone for two weeks was much better than being alone for the whole four weeks of the summer. Kiseida had been insisting that Tayomi went with her, afraid that Tayomi would be alone during the holiday. Now she could tell Kiseida that her cousin would be coming back and that way, Kiseida would stop worrying about her being all by herself.

* * *

The last few days at the Academy felt much more relaxed. The instructors were still teaching as much as they could before the students went off for their break. Everyone was so excited that they were more focused than usual, giving their all while looking forward to the last day of school and the first day of fun and relaxation. People were injured less often during Hakuda class. At Hoho training, everyone's speed seemed to have improved. In Kidou class, all of the students were able to hit the target. As for Zanjutsu training, the instructor told the class that everyone's technique had improved by leaps and bounds. It appeared that the Class 1's love for the holiday had brought about magical effects to Tayomi and her other classmates. Everyone was hyper over the holidays and could not sit still just waiting for it.

"Hey, I want to ask you something." Hitsugaya asked Tayomi on the night of the last day of school, while they were star gazing from the balcony near their classroom. Tayomi turned to face him. Hitsugaya kept silent, the words unable to come out of his mouth.

"What Shiro-chan means to say is..." Hinamori jumped in on them, nudging Hitsugaya. "Shiro-chan, just say it!" Hitsugaya grumbled, upon being called 'Shiro-chan' again.

"Do you... Want to come... Over for the... Holidays? " Hitsugaya stuttered, looking down at his feet. Hinamori nodded beside him, smiling. Tayomi was surprised and she felt glad. She laughed and nodded, agreeing to go to their place for the holiday.

"Oh, but my cousin is coming back on the third week of the holiday, so I can't stay for the whole summer. In that case, do you want to come with me to my hometown once my cousin comes back? He's a nice guy and he's been pestering me to introduce him to my friends... I've asked Kiseida but she told me she couldn't... I'm not using you to replace her or anything but I've been meaning to ask you the whole time it's just that..."

Before Tayomi got to finish her sentence, Hitsugaya stuffed his palm in her face. Tayomi pushed his hand off and saw Hinamori giggling behind him. She began to laugh too and gave them both a hug. _Looks like I'll won't be so alone this holiday after all..._

* * *

**Author's note:  
**YAY it's the holidays at last :D & they're gonna spend it together! Stay tuned to find out what they did!  
Please continue to review! :D_  
_


	17. Summer Days & Minor Matchmaking

**CHAPTER 17: SUMMER DAYS AND MINOR MATCHMAKING**

Tayomi, Hitsugaya and Hinamori arrived at Junrinan, District 1, West Rukongai in the middle of the afternoon. It was almost the afternoon and they had spent some time travelling. Tayomi did not feel tired at all though; she was exhilarated upon arriving at a new district. The area was filled with grass and trees, dripping with dew. The sun was up high in the sky, shining on their faces. Hinamori and Tayomi had became quite close, as Hinamori held Tayomi's hand and led her to Hitsugaya's and her house, where their granny lived.

Hinamori led her into a small house, with Hitsugaya following behind her. Inside, sat an old lady, who Tayomi presumed to be their granny. She smiled at them and motioned for them to come towards her.

"Momo! Toushirou! Is this the friend you were telling me about in your letter?" Granny spoke with a tender voice. Hinamori nodded happily.

"I'm Tayomi Sakuri..." Tayomi bowed. "Pleased to meet you!"

"She's very pretty... And she seems like a nice girl too..." Granny held Hinamori's hand as Hinamori bent down and knelt beside Granny, who was laughing in delight. "Toushirou, have you come with some good news?"

Hitsugaya glanced at Tayomi, looking confused. Tayomi looked back at him, with the same puzzled look on her face as well. Granny motioned for both of them to come sit beside her, before holding both their hands.

"Toushirou, is she your girlfriend?"

Hitsugaya's face immediately turned red. Tayomi blushed and felt her face burn up. She had not expected Granny to ask such a question, or think that way either. She laughed and shook her head, telling Granny that Hitsugaya and she were just close friends. Granny looked slightly disappointed, but was still smiling. She welcomed Tayomi graciously and told her to make herself at home. Hinamori giggled and told Granny that Tayomi might end up with Hitsugaya in future, putting a wider smile on Granny's face and causing Tayomi to blush again. Granny got up to prepare dinner and Hinamori dragged Tayomi out to play, while Hitsugaya went to take an afternoon nap.

* * *

"Hina-chan! That was so awkward..." Tayomi sighed, while they spun tops.

"I was just speaking from the bottom of my heart, Yomi-chan..." Hinamori smiled at her. Tayomi raised an eyebrow at her, wondering if Hinamori knew she was saying.

"Well, Yomi-chan..." Hinamori continued. "Shiro-chan has never been so close to any girl before. I don't think you know this, but Shiro-chan tells me an awful lot about you. I've known him for a long time and I know he's really shy, so there are a lot of things he won't admit to either of us, but I can tell he really likes you and judging by my intuition, I'm quite sure he treats you as more than a friend to him. For example, when he told me about what happened between you and Renayi... He got really protective and I could tell from him facial expression that he wouldn't let that girl do anything to you."

"But Hina-chan, I don't think he likes me that much. Between you and me, he'd definitely pick you..." Tayomi laughed.

"We're just childhood friends, Yomi-chan. So it's normal that he's protective of me. But he's already so protective of you when you've known each other for five months..."

Just then, Hitsugaya walked up beside them, scratching his head after his nap. He sat down beside Tayomi and started spinning tops with them. The three of them started talking about random topics, like the Spiritual Arts Academy and their Zanpakutou. After a while, Hinamori decided to switch to a topic which made Tayomi feel awkward.

"Shiro-chan... You won't disappoint Granny, will you?" Hinamori smiled as Hitsugaya shot a puzzled look at her.

"Stop calling me Shiro-chan. And I don't understand your question at all." Hitsugaya snapped.

"Granny likes Yomi-chan... I like Yomi-chan..." Hinamori whined. "And you like Yomi-chan too! I don't see what the problem is and I don't understand why you won't..." Hinamori was dragged off to the back of the house by Hitsugaya before she could finish saying her piece.

* * *

"Shiro-chan, you've dragged me here. We are now out of Yomi-chan's view, so why can't you just admit it?" Hinamori shouted at Hitsugaya.

"Admit what?" Hitsugaya grumbled.

"Admit that you like Yomi-chan!" Hinamori exclaimed. "I grew up with you so I understand you perfectly well! I know you're too shy to admit it, but you have a crush on Yomi-chan, right?" Hitsugaya kept quiet and looked down at his feet.

"Yomi-chan is a good girl... You have to get her before some other guys do! She almost misunderstood you and thought you liked me... If you don't tell her how you really feel, then you'll never know how she feels about you! I'm sure that if you are honest with her, she won't ignore you! You should just tell her..."

"Argh... Whatever you say." Hitsugaya grumbled and walked off.

_Damn. Hinamori really knows me too well._

* * *

Hitsugaya and Hinamori walked back to Tayomi, who was staring at them with a confused look. Hinamori smiled at Tayomi and dragged her to the back of the house, leaving Hitsugaya confused.

"See what I mean?" Hinamori asked Tayomi. "He's too shy to admit it!"

"Hina-chan, are you really sure?"

"Yes!" Hinamori squealed. "I'm positive he likes you! Are you going to tell him how you feel?"

"Eh... I don't know. But isn't it better for a guy to make the first move?" Tayomi asked meekly, hoping that she could somehow prevent Hinamori from asking her how she felt about Hitsugaya.

Hinamori nodded and thought hard. "Then I shall make him do it somehow!"

* * *

After dinner, Hitsugaya and Tayomi lay on the patch of grass outside Hitsugaya's house and star gazed as they usually did in the Spiritual Arts Academy. That night, the stars finally decided to come out and play. Hitsugaya turned his head to face Tayomi, who was happily looking at the stars blink at her. She turned her head to face him and they started gazing at each other instead of the stars. Tayomi smiled, before turning her head back to face the sky. Inside the house, Hinamori and Granny were watching them, smiling to themselves and confident of the Hitsugaya's future relationship.

* * *

**Author's note:  
**Hitsugaya's Granny finally poses the awkward question. And Tayomi blushes way too easily! :D Next chapter, they will be taking a little outing to the park, so stay tuned and wait for the new chapter! :D Please continue reviewing as well! Thanks!


	18. Sweet Nature

**CHAPTER 18: SWEET NATURE**

"Can someone tell me why we are here, again?" Hitsugaya grumbled, after Tayomi and Hinamori had woke him up from his afternoon nap and dragged him to the nearby park. Tayomi giggled and Hinamori said that they would be playing around in the park for the whole day. She told them that she had invited Kira along as well, so that Hitsugaya would not feel lonely being the only boy there. Just then, Kira came running towards them, waving and smiling. He joined them and sat down on the grass.

They began playing cat's cradle together, with Kira winning every single round they played. It appeared that Kira was quite skilled at playing that game and Tayomi watched in awe as he played with Hinamori. She looked at Hinamori and Kira playing together so happily and it made her smile. _Having friends with you really lifts the mood... Kira-senpai and Hinamori-senpai actually look quite good together... _Tayomi looked at Hitsugaya, who seemed rather bored and had begun to space out. She poked him, much to his annoyance and he ended up poking her back as well.

Later, they decided to run around the park for a while and play hide and seek. Tayomi loved this game and was really excited about it. Hinamori volunteered to hide herself and so did Kira. Hitsugaya sighed again, volunteering to hide himself as well, since it did not involve moving around too much in the hot sun. Tayomi covered her eyes and counted to one hundred, as Hinamori, Kira and Hitsugaya ran off to various spots around the park to hide. After counting to one hundred, Tayomi finally opened her eyes wide, ready to search for the other three. She laughed to herself and ran off to begin her hunt.

* * *

The park was rather huge in size, and most of the area was covered by grass and bushes. There were trees growing along a pathway made of sand, every two metres or so. The weather that day was not very warm as the Sun's rays were blocked out by the trees. Even so, Tayomi felt that it was about to rain soon, since the clouds were coming and sky had gotten a little darker. She knew she would have to hurry, in order to finish the game quickly. She ran around the trees for an hour, before she found Hitsugaya sleeping behind one.

Tayomi knelt down beside him and smiled. For some reason, Hitsugaya appeared to be somewhat adorable whenever he was sleeping, looking like an innocent little boy. He never looked like that when he was in class, so the only time Tayomi had seen him look so cute was when he was asleep. She tried to focus her mind properly. Here she was with Hitsugaya and she had just found her first person! She decided to wake Hitsugaya up. But how?

"Susu-chan!" Tayomi pounced on him. "I found you! Heh heh heh!" Hitsugaya woke up with a start and banged his forehead against hers, knocking Tayomi backwards onto the grass. She got up immediately and hugged him, before dragging him off to look for the others. An hour later, she managed to find Kira hiding in a bush and Hinamori hiding in a tree. The four of them laughed and decided to finally start their picnic. They set out the picnic mat under the tree and sliced up the watermelon and peaches that Hinamori brought. Hinamori passed a slice of watermelon to everyone and the four of them munched on it. Tayomi's teeth sank into the soft, juicy flesh of the watermelon, her favourite fruit ever since she was a child.

"Shiro-chan loves watermelons too," Hinamori chuckled, while eating a peach. After the picnic, Hinamori and Kira had to return to the Spiritual Arts Academy and bid Hitsugaya and Tayomi farewell. Hinamori told them that she would bid farewell to Granny before leaving and reminded them not to return home too late after star gazing.

* * *

That night, Hitsugaya and Tayomi lay down on the grass as they usually did and looked up at the stars. There were not many stars that night and only a few decided to sparkle. The crescent moon was covered by the clouds as well, so Hitsugaya and Tayomi decided to sit in the tree and chat. They climbed up onto the tree branch and started talking about their upcoming visit to Tayomi's hometown.

"So what's your cousin like?" Hitsugaya asked.

"He's a nice guy... You don't have to worry about anything, I'm sure he'll like you!" Tayomi nudged him. "My cousin is a really nice guy, even though he's much taller than both of us, you can never feel small or threatened around him, so that's good!"

Hitsugaya sighed. "Sorry about that day... I didn't expect Granny to ask you such an awkward question. Your face was really red that day... It was the same shade of red as your Shinigami uniform..."

"EH?" Tayomi was stunned and felt her face burn up again. "Really? Oh no..."

"It's fine..." Hitsugaya said.

For that moment, the park was completely silent. Hitsugaya and Tayomi sat on the branch together, their hands only a few centimetres away from each other. They both turned to look at each other at the same time. Tayomi could feel herself sinking into the depths of his turquoise eyes and her mouth curving upwards to form a gentle smile. Hitsugaya was looking at her as well, perhaps even smiling for the first time. She felt that his smile was rather special, it did not give away his emotions but somehow, you could interpret how he felt and she knew he felt some sort of satisfaction. He leaned in closer towards her and she leaned closer towards him as well. Hitsugaya tilted his head slightly to the right and closed his eyes. Tayomi closed her eyes too and she felt his breath brush her nose. Within seconds, she could feel his soft lips touch hers for the first time and just as his lips were about to press onto hers, Tayomi felt herself fall backwards.

"AHHH!"

She did a flip and landed safely on the ground. She looked up to see Hitsugaya hop down from the tree branch, looking surprised

_I can't believe I just fell off the tree branch._

"Well, it's getting late..." Hitsugaya scratched his head and for the first time, held her hand. "Let's go."

Tayomi smiled and let herself be dragged away by Hitsugaya.

* * *

**Author's Note:  
**YAY I hoped you all liked this chapter! :D I don't think anyone can believe that Tayomi just missed her first kiss, just like that... But they'll get to spend more time when they get to Tayomi's hometown and Tayomi confronts her past! Stay tuned for the next chapter and please keep reviewing! Thanks! :D


	19. Back Home

**CHAPTER 19: BACK HOME**

Hitsugaya and Tayomi arrived at Hikari, Rukongai District 5. It looked about the same as Junrinan, just that the district was embedded with hills. It was summer, so the green grass grew on the trees and pink flowers popped out every few centimetres. The area was like a huge flower patch, fully explaining Tayomi's love of flowers. She felt her feet sink into the soft grass and flowers; it felt really good to be home. She had felt so awkward after what happened yesterday, left confused and wondering how Hitsugaya really felt about her. As per usual, she had dragged him by the hand towards her hometown, but wondered if she was showing too much initiative. Maybe he did not really like her? Just thinking about it made her so messed up. Tayomi let go of his hand and simply walked beside him, towards her house.

Not before long, they had finally arrived at Tayomi's house. It was a little house surrounded by flowers and the breeze had swept past, messing up Tayomi's hair. Her fringe was in her face and she arranged it back nicely using her hands. She made her way to the front door and opened it. Everything was still the same. The wooden coffee table stood in front of the rattan mat, with quilts covering it and handmade cushions placed against the wall. Tayomi noticed that the windows were open and that everything was clean. She had expected it to be dusty and covered with cobwebs. Someone was here. Someone had cleaned up the place.

"TAYOMI-CHAN!" Tayomi turned around to see her elder cousin jump out of his room and run towards her. Her cousin had light brown hair, blue green eyes and was tall, the complete opposite of little Tayomi. Hitsugaya looked up at her cousin. He was tall and good looking, giving him the same warm feeling that Tayomi gave him when they first got to know each other. Tayomi giggled and gave her cousin a hug. She had not seen him in ages and really missed him. She pushed Hitsugaya to her cousin and introduced him.

"Itoko!* This is the friend I mentioned to you..." Tayomi was grinning all the way. "Hitsugaya Toushirou. Hitsu-chan, this is my itoko, Ikiyomi Gintamoto." Hitsugaya and Gintamoto shook hands and smiled at each other.

"Yomi-chan!" Gintamoto faked a sniffle or two. "You're... You're growing up at last! I feel so old right now!" Tayomi rolled her eyes and smacked him on the back.

"Oh Yomi-chan," Gintamoto suddenly spoke seriously. "I brought something home for you... I placed it in your room. And if you don't mind, you and Hitsugaya can share a room... My room is way too small."

* * *

Tayomi nodded and dragged Hitsugaya to her room, before closing the door. She dropped her bag and walked slowly towards the box in the corner. Gingerly, she lifted the lid and saw a pile of things belonging to her deceased parents. Their belongings that were kept in their work place before they were killed. The letters they wanted to send, but were never sent. Hitsugaya put his bag down and walked over to her. She saw everything from her past and memories came flooding back. She dug out their family photos and the birthday presents she had given them for their birthday. Everything from her first drawing to the short haiku she wrote for them... It was all here, in the box. Just then, she spotted a pink piece of paper buried under all their items and pulled it out. She read the label and immediately knew what it was. It was their last letter to her which she never received, as they were killed before they could send it.

"These are from...My parents..." Tayomi stuttered. "And my stuff way back when I was a kid...Eh Susu-chan, read it to me! I'm afraid I might stain the letter with my tears..."

Hitsugaya sighed and read out the letter.

"My dear Sakuri, tomorrow will be your birthday. We're sorry we couldn't come back in time for your birthday, we have to escort the village chief's goods to another district in Rukongai again. We have passed the present to your brother. It's the pair of pink shoes you've been wanting ever since you saw it years ago. We finally saved up enough money to buy it for you and we hope you like it. Its soles are flexible, so you can dance in them. We know how much you love to dance and you've always been twirling around the flower patch ever since you could walk. This time's journey will be very perilous and we don't know if we can survive this, but for your brother and you, we will keep fighting to live, right up to the very last second. Please stay as cheerful as you have always been, even if we are not around anymore. Listen to your brother and keep smiling. Love always, your parents."

* * *

Tayomi had tears in her eyes. She fished out the pair of pink shoes from the box and looked at them. They were too small for her, but she would always keep them by her side. The shoes were the last presents that she ever received from her parents before they died. Tears began trickling down her rosy cheeks and they fell onto the shoes. She felt someone hold her and she looked up to see Hitsugaya with his arms around her. She could feel his heart beat as her hand was on his chest. She stared at him with her big eyes overflowing with tears.

"If you don't want me to hold you, I can let go, it's ok." Hitsugaya mumbled, looking at her. "But I just thought since you consoled me after Kusaka died, I..."

Tayomi placed her finger over his mouth. "It's ok... I didn't say I didn't like it."

They stayed in that position for a few minutes, before Tayomi finally spoke.

"Susu-chan, can you ruffle my hair again?"

"Fine." Hitsugaya replied, before ruffling her hair. He had her in his embrace, in his arms and hoped she felt safe in it.

* * *

**Translation:  
***Itoko: cousin (According to the translation...At least)

* * *

**Author's note:  
**I personally like this chapter. Because it's cute :D Next chapter, Tayomi and Hitsugaya are going to spend the day at home alone, as her cousin has to run some errands, so... *giggles* Stay tuned and keep reviewing! 3


	20. Together Alone

**CHAPTER 20: TOGETHER ALONE**

The warm rays of the sun shone on Tayomi's face, making it warm. Even though her eyes were closed, she could feel the light from the sun shining onto her eyelids. It was morning and she woke up in her own house, instead of the Spiritual Arts Academy's dorm room. She ran her fingers through her messy hair, yawned and stretched. It felt good waking up at home. Kicking off her blanket, she slowly stood up and looked to her right. Hitsugaya was still fast asleep. Tayomi dragged her feet to the bathroom in her backyard to wash up and start preparing breakfast.

Gintamoto was out running errands for the whole day and left the two of them on their own, positive that they were responsible enough to take care of themselves. He had promised Tayomi that he would spend some time with both of them tomorrow, leaving her satisfied. It was quite early in the morning and she was tired after all that travelling. Tayomi made tea, baked some butter cookies and sliced the watermelon into half. She quickly cleaned the house and opened the windows, letting the sunlight enter her house and brighten the atmosphere. Now all that there was left to do was wake Hitsugaya up...

Tayomi stared at Hitsugaya. He was still sleeping peacefully and she knew waking him up would be a daunting task, but one way or another, she still had to do it. She tried kicking him (though she ended up poking him with her toes instead), slapping him, shaking him, but nothing worked. After attempting to wake him up with a variety of methods, she decided to use the last method she had in the bag.

"SUSU-CHAN!" She screamed and jumped onto him.

"ARGH! GET OFF ME!"

"NO WAY! IT'S TIME TO WAKE UP!"

"I WANT TO SLEEP!"

"YOU CAN'T! IT'S REALLY LATE NOW AND IF YOU DON'T GET UP, I"M GONNA STAY THIS WAY AND SIT ON TOP OF YOU UNTIL YOU DO!"

"ARGH! FINE FINE FINE!"

Tayomi smiled and pulled him up to his feet. Hitsugaya scratched his head and sighed. He yawned and went to wash up, while Tayomi waited for him in the living room. They had breakfast together and finished the cookies, before going into the front of the yard to eat the watermelon. They used the spoon and dug into the watermelon's flesh, scooping up bits of watermelon and swallowing it down their throats. It was a warm day and the watermelon definitely did its part by cooling them down. After cleaning up, they were rather bored and Tayomi suddenly grabbed Hitsugaya by the hand.

"I wanna show you something." She smiled and dragged him away.

* * *

She pulled him all the way to the other side of the village to show him a hill. Though it was summer, that hill was still covered in snow. Tayomi explained that the hill, for some reason, had been snowing all year round and she dragged him up the mountain.

"Are you crazy? It's snowing, it's gonna be cold." Hitsugaya shouted.

"That's the magical part of it. It isn't cold at all!" Tayomi smiled.

They climbed up the hill and trudged through the snow barefoot. As their feet sank deep into the snow, they felt a slight chill, but it was less cold than they had expected it to be. The warm rays of the sun had helped them, bringing some warmth onto their skin as a few snowflakes fell to the ground. The surrounding air was cool and of the right temperature, being neither too hot nor too cold. Tayomi hopped up the hill excitedly, as snowflakes fell into her hair. Hitsugaya followed her from the back, watching her get excited about all the snow. He reached out his hand to catch a snowflake and smiled. He loved the cold and was glad to escape the sweltering heat that day. _She's so cute, but I wonder why she brought me here..._

Tayomi answered his burning question, by telling him that she knew he liked to snow and decided to show him this hill. She sat down on the soft snow and pulled him down as well, forcing him to sit on the snow. It felt soft, like sitting on a pile of feathers. She began talking about how sad it was that no one ever came here, even though it was so pretty.

"It's pretty isn't it?" Tayomi sighed and she caught another snowflake.

"Yeah..." Hitsugaya nodded. "Thanks for bringing me here."

Just then, Tayomi decided to play a game of hide and seek and ran off to hide before Hitsugaya could say anything. Even though the hill was rather small, there were mounds of snow all over and given Tayomi's size, she could easily hide behind any of them. He sighed and ran around looking for her for hours, never expecting that Tayomi was clever at hiding herself. Suddenly, he had a thought. There was no way Tayomi could stay quiet for such a long time without letting out a giggle. What if Tayomi had disappeared or gotten herself into trouble? He started to panic at that thought and furiously hoped she was all right.

"TAYOMI!"

He ran around the hill using Shunpo, hoping to find her quickly, lest she had really gotten herself into trouble. He could feel his heart beat at lightning speed and his breathing speed up, as he turned his head left and right repeatedly, looking for her. The area was still silent, free of Tayomi's laughter. _Please don't be in trouble... Please be okay... I don't want to see you hurt... I want to protect you forever..._At that moment, he noticed a small girl with black hair walk towards him.

"Susu-chan, I thought you would find me quite easily, because there are limited places for me to hide... I can't believe you took so long and still couldn't find me..." Tayomi giggled. Hitsugaya smiled and ran to hug her.

"I thought something happened to you..." Hitsugaya admitted.

"Haha, I wouldn't let anything bad happen to me. And seriously, you took so long to find me... The sun's going down now. We have to go soon... My cousin's coming back for dinner and he'll kill us if we were back late. "

* * *

The sky turned into shades of light purple, blue, rose pink and orange. The sun began to set as the moon began to rise. Tayomi and Hitsugaya watched the sun go down slowly and hide itself, as the different hues in the sky disappeared and turned into a slightly darker sky blue. The moon could barely be seen, as it tried to peep out from behind the numerous fluffy clouds in the sky.

Tayomi and Hitsugaya looked at each other in the eye. At the same time, Tayomi threw her arms around his neck and Hitsugaya placed his arms around her waist. They gazed at each other up close and drowned in the depths of each other's eyes. Tayomi kissed Hitsugaya on the cheek and he kissed her on her forehead. They held each other for a while, before walking back to Tayomi's house while holding hands.

* * *

**Author's note:  
**Whee! I hope you liked this chapter! They didn't exactly have their first kiss but they kissed each other anyways! :D And for the next chapter, most of you should have expected that Tayomi's cousin is planning something for them... Because HE IS! He's gonna bring them to a special place... So stay tuned to find out and please keep reviewing! :D Thanks!


	21. Meant to Be

**CHAPTER 21: MEANT TO BE**

_I wonder where Ginta Itoko wants to bring us today... _Tayomi thought. These few days with Hitsugaya had been fun and she got to spend some real quality time with him, but she wondered if her cousin was up to something. He left them alone at home for a whole day and told them he would be bringing them to a 'special place' these two days. Knowing his personality, he was probably up to his tricks as per usual, playing matchmaker for her and Hitsugaya. After all, his part-time job was a matchmaker. Tayomi was not a bit surprised at his ability to get two people together.

Tayomi ended up surprised in the end though, once Gintamoto had dragged her and Hitsugaya to the 'special place' he mentioned.

* * *

"Yomi-chan, this place really is very special. It's the place where your parents first met, first decided to get together, first kissed and got married. It's a really important place to them and I thought I should just bring you and Hitsugaya to this place. I have to do something important, so I'll leave you two to entertain yourselves. I think there was a tree around here which your parents carved something on... You can look for it. But I can promise you that I will be with both of you and bring you out tomorrow, alright? Bye and good luck looking for that tree!" With that, Gintamoto ran off to tend to his errands.

_That's just like Ginta Itoko. Whenever he came to visit, he still always had things to do. Oh well. _Just then, it hit her. Gintamoto had just left her in a significant place with Hitsugaya. He definitely was up to his tricks again. She looked around the area and recognised the place immediately. It was the Hikari Pavillion, the biggest botanical garden in her whole district. The whole area was a giant grassland, with flowers growing everywhere. The grass had grown up to their knees and an array of colourful flowers surrounded them. Hikari Pavillion was the most beautiful garden in Rukongai and the inhabitants of Hikari were proud of it. Hitsugaya and Tayomi stared at each other.

"Eh... What do we do now?" Tayomi asked.

"I don't know..." Hitsugaya sighed. "But is it just me, or is your cousin planning something?"

"I totally forgot to warn you that my cousin works as a matchmaker. That's why he's so busy all the time." Tayomi stifled a giggle. "He gets paid to bring people together. He's tried it on me all the time, but all the guys he introduced to me were just... Well I just didn't like them very much. Sure, they were either talented or had good looks, but I just didn't like them..."

"Oh. I see." Hitsugaya looked sad for once.

"Eh Susu-chan, don't get me wrong! I... I... Well..." Tayomi's face turned red and without thinking, she grabbed his hand and looked down at her feet. Hitsugaya looked at her and smiled, squeezing her hand. They decided to walk around the area and look for the tree. Hitsugaya and Tayomi decided to split up and look for it. Tayomi ran towards the right and Hitsugaya ran towards the left. Inside, Tayomi was a little worried that they would be lost halfway, since Hikari Pavillion was of such a massive size. _Maybe if we meet each other halfway, it would show we were meant to be together or something..._

* * *

Tayomi walked around Hikari Pavillion, running around the trees and hoping to find a carving on the tree bark with her parents' names on it. As far as she knew, her personality took after her mother's. Perhaps by referring to her own personality, she could figure out what tree it was. Tayomi stopped in her tracks and thought for a moment. _What kind of trees do I like?_

_Every single tree that exists..._

* * *

Hitsugaya ran around the trees and frantically looked for the carving. He knew that finding out more about her parents meant the world to Tayomi, since she had never gotten much of a chance to spend time with them as they had passed away when she was so young. Seeing Tayomi sad was like shooting at arrow straight at his heart. He only wanted to see one thing. He only wanted to see her happy and protect her for the rest of his life. If he could find it, she would be really delighted. With that thought in mind, Hitsugaya took a deep breath and his resolve strengthened. _I will find it... No matter what it takes!_

_But what are her parents' names..?_

Hitsugaya, upon realising that, smacked his forehead. Now finding that tree would prove to be a very difficult task. He sighed and decided to leave it all to fate, hoping that somehow he would find that tree. Her parents' first name was 'Tayomi', so he was sure that whatever her parents were called, the carving would have the word 'Tayomi' there. He decided to keep his fingers crossed and continued to search for the tree. After an hour or so of running past trees, he finally spotted a tree which had a great number of cherry blossoms blooming from the flower buds. It was absolutely beautiful to see a mix of green leaves and light pink flowers grow together. A cherry blossom floated down from the tree and he reached out his hand to catch it. Hitsugaya looked down at the tree bark and saw a heart-shaped carving.

"Tayomi Kyota and Hadari Suzuna." A voice read out slowly and softly.

* * *

Hitsugaya looked up. Tayomi was staring at the carving, smiling as she had found something that her parents had left behind. They had found the carving at the exact same time. Tayomi smiled at Hitsugaya and walked up to him. He smiled back at her and reached out his hand, tucking a strand of hair that was hanging in her face behind her ear. Looking down at his feet, he gave her the cherry blossom he had caught earlier, feeling shy. Tayomi held the cherry blossom with one hand and held Hitsugaya's hand with the other.

_Perhaps we are really meant to be after all..._

* * *

**Author's note:  
**YAY I hope you liked this chapter :D FuzzyShadowFoxx has suggested the next place where Tayomi's cousin would bring her and Hitsugaya to and I think it's quite a good idea, so I shall write the next chapter and set it in that place! :D Stay tuned to find out where they went and please review! XD Thank youuuuu ^.^


	22. Hikari Ryokan

**CHAPTER 22: HIKARI RYOKAN **

Tayomi gasped. She felt like attacking her cousin right now. She knew he was up to his tricks, but she had never expected him to bring them to such a place. She stared at the signboard with her eyebrows raised. At that moment in time, she was indeed extremely tempted to punch her cousin in the face and run off before he had the chance to put his plan into action. _Actually, I would have done that… If only Ginta Itoko had never learnt martial arts…_

"Welcome to the superbly famous Hikari Ryokan, well-known all over Rukongai!" Gintamoto beamed. Hikari Ryokan was famous for its natural hot springs

Tayomi turned to look at Hitsugaya, whose face was blank. She was hoping that they could somehow escape from this embarrassment, but judging from Gintamoto's determination and effort into reserving an outdoor bath for them, there was no way they would be allowed to back out of it. Besides, it would be rather mean to refuse after all the money Gintamoto had spent just to book the private outdoor bath for them. Tayomi decided to be nice and kept her fingers crossed, hoping she could avoid as much embarrassment as she could. For some reason, she had a nagging feeling in her heart that Gintamoto was going to run off somewhere and leave her and Hitsugaya alone again.

As Tayomi had predicted, he did do so. Gintamoto told them that he had booked the outdoor bath near theirs and would be meeting his old friends there to catch up with them while relaxing. He smiled at both of them and said that he trusted them both not to do anything inappropriate. Tayomi sighed. She knew well enough that neither she nor Hitsugaya were capable of doing inappropriate things.

* * *

Grabbing the yukata provided, Tayomi and Hitsugaya made their separate ways into the bathing area. Tayomi looked down at her feet and felt her face burn up slightly. Now she felt like attacking Gintamoto more than ever, but she knew she could not. After all, he had put in a lot of effort into it and she tried to calm down and enjoy herself with her friend. She undressed herself and washed her whole body, sure that her face was still slightly red. She washed her face over and over again until it had regained its usual colour before speaking to him from her bathing area.

"Um… Susu-chan? Are you done yet?" She asked nervously.

"Um… Yeah. You? " Hitsugaya sounded just as nervous as she was.

"Yeah. " Tayomi suddenly remembered that their bathing areas were right opposite each other, so there was no way they could just step outside facing each other. "You have to go in first. Our bathing areas are like… Right opposite each other's."

"Ok." Hitsugaya stepped out of the bathing area and went into the hot spring, his back facing Tayomi's bathing area. "Ok, you can come out now."

Tayomi stepped out of the bathing area and went into the hot spring. The water level was just right above her chest, which was a good thing indeed. She heaved a sigh of relief.

"Ok. On the count of three, we both turn around, okay?" Tayomi spoke, sounding uneasy.

"Are you sure that's okay?" Hitsugaya asked coldly. "I'm not wearing anything and neither are you."

"Well, it's not like you can see anything… And besides, I'm practically flat-chested." Tayomi laughed.

"Ok fine." Hitsugaya mumbled. "And I thought you were flat-chested all along."

"I am NOT flat-chested." Tayomi grumbled. "They're just not very big, that's all."

"Ok. Pretend I didn't say anything."

"Three, two, one!"

Both of them turned around to face each other. Hitsugaya was relieved that he could not see anything that he should not be looking at. Tayomi felt a wave of relief sweep over her. Both of them looked over to the scenery outside the hot spring. The ryokan was surrounded by hills and they could spot the hill which snowed all year round, where they watched the sunset together and received a kiss from each other. Tayomi could feel her hair and body being soaked in the warm water, rejuvenating her tired soul. Maybe the trip to the ryokan was much needed after all. Hitsugaya seemed fine with it as well and they relaxed in the warm hot spring.

* * *

Sitting side by side and facing the hills, they started chatting again, trying to avoid any awkward moments as much as possible.

"I can't believe we're going back to the Academy in a few days. Just when I was beginning to really get into the holiday mood…" Tayomi sighed. "And five weeks later, we're going for our second field training in the human world. I hope there won't be any hollows appearing uninvited again."

"Yeah, that was really scary. But at least we managed to test the strength of our Shikai. Speaking of which, have you fully mastered your Shikai?" Hitsugaya asked.

"Sort of…" Tayomi smiled. "I managed to learn two more techniques and the final technique of my Shikai. And that means I can start training myself for Bankai… How about you? "

"Same. I managed to fully master my Shikai too… I'm going to start training for Bankai and once we get back to the Academy, I'm going to try and summon Hyourinmaru's spirit. "

"I'm going to try and summon Inazuma Kaze too, but she can be difficult sometimes…" Tayomi sighed. "But I think she's rather special, so in terms of trying to master my Shikai and Bankai fully, I think I might take longer than you would."

"Why?" Hitsugaya turned to her and asked.

"I don't know… It's hard to explain. I'll tell you in future, once I figure out how she works… Mastering her attacks is one thing, but mastering her is another…"

"Ok." Hitsugaya smiled and patted her head, much to her delight.

After an hour of soaking, both of them got out of the bath and got dressed. They met Gintamoto outside their room and went off for lunch together. Tayomi smiled. Maybe the visit to Hikari Ryokan was not so bad after all.

* * *

**Author's Note:  
**I had to do research for this chapter... :D I hope you liked this Chapter! For those who went to my profile before, I did mention that Tayomi's Zanpakutou has a very special feature... It's already hinted in this chapter so you can make your guesses until I reveal it much much later in the story XD They're going back to the Academy for the second half of their school year, which means *gasp* their days in school are ending soon!  
But that doesn't mean their story is over :D After this Arc about their school days end, I'll write another Arc where they enter the Gotei 13 and I'm excited about it! XD I hope you liked this chapter and please review! Thanks! ^.^ Credits to FuzzyShadowFoxx for the idea for this chapter :D


	23. Inspection

**CHAPTER 23: INSPECTION**

"Seida-chan!" Tayomi ran into her room, dropped her bags and the floor and gave her best friend a hug. "How was your summer?"

Kiseida hugged her back and began telling her about her summer. The two girls sat on Tayomi's bed and Kiseida went into detail about her holiday back home. Kiseida fished out a bunny keychain from her bag and thrust it into Tayomi's hand. She looked at the adorable keychain and hugged Kiseida, thanking her friend for the gift. Tayomi immediately hung the keychain on her pencil case and fished out the cherry blossom keychain she had bought from her hometown. Kiseida smiled and thanked her, asking Tayomi how her summer was. At that moment, memories of her summer flew back into Tayomi's mind, causing her to blush.

"I…" Tayomi could not wipe the smile off her face. "Don't tell anyone, but I had what most people call 'a summer romance'..."

"OH MY GOSH!" Kiseida squealed so loudly that Tayomi had to tell her to quiet down. "With who? I promise I won't tell anyone!"

"Hitsugaya…" Tayomi felt her face burn up as she told Kiseida about her summer and how she spent it with Hitsugaya. She could see Kiseida's excited expression as she went into detail about how they almost kissed each other on the lips. Kiseida smacked her on the back once she heard that Tayomi fell off the tree just before they kissed. Tayomi giggled and continued telling Kiseida about their time on the hills, the garden and the hot spring.

* * *

On the first day of school, the halls were bustling with students, full of energy after the summer. Tayomi and Kiseida entered their classroom and saw all their classmates happily chatting with their desk mates, sharing their holiday experiences. Onabara was in the classroom and smiled as he watched his excited students converse with each other with smiles on their faces. Tayomi sat down at her seat, beside Hitsugaya. They smiled at each other awkwardly. Since they were back in school, they could not act as openly as they did with each other during the holidays. Also, they had made a promise to tell only one other person about what they did with each other and their romance during the holidays. That meant that most of their classmates were oblivious to their feelings towards each other and Hitsugaya and Tayomi intended to keep it to themselves.

After everyone had settled down, Onabara announced that there would be a Captain and Vice-Captain from the Gotei 13 coming to inspect the school and that they would be observing their class for the whole day. The whole of Class 1 cheered, excited to meet such highly ranked members of the Gotei 13. Onabara advised them to put on their best behaviour as they would be speaking to the class as well. Everyone in the class nodded. Tayomi felt excited to meet the Captain and Vice-Captain. She hoped that they would have valuable advice for them and it would help her become a stronger Shinigami.

* * *

Class 1 gathered in the Kidou training room, awaiting the arrival of the Captain and Vice-Captain. There was a lot of whispering going on, as everyone wondered which squad they would be from. A few minutes later, a man with messy brown hair and spectacles entered the room, with another man who had the Vice-Captain insignia bound around his arm. The brown-haired man wore a long-sleeved haori with the number '5' on the back and smiled at everyone. _That must be the Captain… _Tayomi stared at him in awe. His Vice-Captain had silver hair and a wide, scary grin. She looked at the both of them and felt honoured to be in the same room as a Captain and Vice-Captain of the Gotei 13.

"Hello students. I'm Aizen Sousuke, Captain of the 5th squad." Aizen smiled. "And this man standing beside me is my Lieutenant, Ichimaru Gin."

"Hiya everyone!" Ichimaru kept grinning.

* * *

After they had introduced themselves, they sat down on the bench at the sides and observed the students of Class 1 at Kidou training. They would be going one by one and had one minute to show off their skill in Kidou. Onabara told them to give it their best shot and show Aizen and Ichimaru how good they truly were. Everyone had given their all during this class, hoping to impress Aizen and Ichimaru. Tayomi looked at Hitsugaya, whose facial expression was as cold as it had always been. He looked back at her and Tayomi smiled at him. Before she knew it, it was her turn to show Aizen and Ichimaru her capabilities. She walked up to the front nervously, took a deep breath and raised her right arm.

"Raikoho Tenran."

All the students of Class 1 watched in awe as Tayomi combined two high-level Hadou spells and a tornado-shaped blast of yellow energy was fired, destroying ten targets and cracking the wall behind it. She gripped her right arm with her left hand. _I have to watch my force… Unless I want to destroy more walls like I did on my first Kidou practice. But then again, I'm supposed to give it my best shot… _Tayomi deliberated for a split second and decided to try a spell she had just learnt a few days ago. _Oh well, here goes._

"Limit of the thousands hands, respectful hands, unable to touch the darkness. Shooting hands unable to reflect the blue sky. The road that basks in light, the wind that ignited the embers, time that gathers when both are together, there is no need to be hesitant, obey my orders. Light bullets, eight bodies, nine items, book of heaven, diseased treasure, great wheel, grey fortress tower. Aim far away, scatter brightly and cleanly when fired. Hadou 91, Senju Koten Taiho!"

Aizen and Ichimaru watched as the first year student performed a level 91 spell. The spears of light headed for the target, causing a great explosion and filling the room with smoke. Tayomi covered her eyes and waited for the smoke to clear. Her one minute was up and she hoped that her spell was successful. She looked up and saw the target completely destroyed, including the targets beside it and the wall behind seemed more than ready to crack. Aizen and Ichimaru immediately stood up and started clapping, praising her for her skill. Soon, the whole room erupted into applause and Onabara gave her a thumbs-up sign.

Tayomi bowed and instinctively placed her hands behind her back. She looked at Hitsugaya and saw him smiling at her. He looked around to make sure everyone's eyes were on her, before he nervously brought his hand up to his lips and blew a kiss to her. _His nervous expression… It's really cute as well… _She giggled and caught it with her hand, glad of her success in Kidou and delighted at Hitsugaya's sweet gesture.

* * *

**Author's note:  
**Hitsugaya takes the initiative! YAY :D In the next chapter, Aizen and Ichimaru will continue observing the class and Onabara asks Hitsugaya and Tayomi to fight each other using Shikai! Aizen and Ichimaru had better be impressed ^.^ Hope you all liked this chapter and please continue reviewing! Thanks! :D


	24. Fallen Hopes

**CHAPTER 24: FALLEN HOPES**

It was time for Zanjutsu training. After pulling off a combination of two high level Kidou spells and a level 91 Hadou spell, Tayomi was certain that she had done herself proud and was in a fantastic mood. She wondered what Onabara would have them do to show off to Aizen and Ichimaru the capability of this year's batch of students under the Special Accelerated Program. Onabara announced that they would be having a sparring session and opponents would be chosen based on the scores of their last exam. As expected, Tayomi would once again be sparring with Hitsugaya.

Two by two, the pairs of students came up to the sparring area to battle it out. Everyone was fighting hard in order to impress Aizen and Ichimaru. Both of them seemed impressed at their skill and potential and were smiling all the way, awaiting Hitsugaya and Tayomi's turn. Before anyone knew it, time flew by quickly and it was Hitsugaya and Tayomi's turn at last. The both of them came up and entered the sparring area, unsheating their Zanpakutous. Tayomi looked very serious, which was rare since she had always been a carefree, cheerful girl. Hitsugaya's face was as straight at it has always been.

"Captain Aizen and Lieutenant Ichimaru, these two students are the ones I mentioned to you before," Onabara explained. "Both Hitsugaya Toushirou and Tayomi Sakuri have achieved their Shikai."

"Really? It'll be interesting to see them use it and see two prodigies at work." Aizen smiled. Onabara bowed and told them to release their Shikai. Tayomi was shocked. She had not expected it at all and the last thing she wanted to do was use her Shikai on Hitsugaya. Her Shikai was quite strong now and if she were to use her final technique, she could end up killing him if she was not careful. Even using one of her basic techniques on him could possibly cost Hitsugaya his life. Hitsugaya looked quite unwilling to use his Shikai on Tayomi as well. _I want to protect her, not hurt her… _Just then, Onabara signalled for them to start.

"Soten ni zase, Hyourinmaru."

* * *

Tayomi looked at Hitsugaya, trying to stop tears from flowing into her eyes. He was going to use his Shikai on her! Perhaps it had been her own wishful thinking after all. The romance that took place during her holiday was not a romance to Hitsugaya, it was merely a few friendly actions made towards her. He probably did so as he was aware of her feelings towards him and did not want to hurt her. That was the painful fact. He never loved her. He never did love her. He never would love her. He was willing to raise his blade and hurt her. The kiss he tried to give her on her lips, the hugs he embraced her with, the kiss he softly planted on her forehead, it was not gestures of love, it was gestures made in order to preserve their friendship. So many realisations overwhelmed Tayomi at that moment and it all meant one thing to her- Hitsugaya never loved her. Her heart felt as if it had been pierced at that instant and even though he did not love her, she loved him and was being forced to hurt him. It was the same as hurting herself.

"Ikkimaku, Inazuma Kaze."

Hitsugaya had his blade pointed at her and she could sense a certain pain in his eyes. Hitsugaya could see from Tayomi's eyes that she felt like she was going to die fighting him. With an unwilling heart, he sent an ice dragon towards her. Tayomi quickly used Shunpo to dodge the attack. _He just attacked me… _She felt the pain in her heart growing and bravely waved her Zanpakutou towards her right, sending an arrow made of lightning at him, which he avoided swiftly. They charged towards each other, raising their blades. However, at the last moment, Tayomi hesitated and her strength decreased. It appeared that the same thing happened to Hitsugaya as well, resulting in their blades merely touching, instead of crashing against each other. Tayomi stood up, shaking and spoke up towards Onabara.

"I'm sorry, Onabara sensei…" She stuttered, hid her hands behind her back and bowed her head down immediately, before slowly looking up at them. "I'm sorry, C-captain Aizen and Lieu-t-tenant Ichi-m-maru… I can't do it. I can't attack m-my own cla-classmate lie th-this and possibly k-kill him…"

Aizen, Ichimaru and Onabara looked at each other. They had not expected a first year student to achieve Shikai so quickly, let alone be able deal fatal blows using it. Hitsugaya got up and walked up beside Tayomi, hiding his left hand behind his back and using it to hold her right hand. Tayomi continued looking at the three of them and slowly freed her hand from Hitsugaya's. Inside, Hitsugaya felt shocked. _Maybe the guy she told me she had a crush on… It wasn't me after all. I should have never got my hopes up and thought it was me. I should have known an adorable, beautiful, talented girl like her would never fall for a guy like me._

* * *

For the rest of the day, both Hitsugaya and Tayomi had tried hard to concentrate, but utterly failed. They could not focus on Hakuda or using Shunpo, because they were focusing on each other, disappointed and pained by the fact that the other party did not love them like they thought they did. They were going to stay friends, but there was nothing more to it. In a day, their hopes had fallen and they both knew that as much as they would like to, trying to forget the love they had for the other party and pretending that what happened during the summer never took place would be as difficult as achieving Bankai.

"Hina-chan…" Tayomi and Hinamori sat beside the pond in the garden and had a short chat like they usually had every week. "I think you were wrong… Susu-chan… He doesn't love me. He never did. Today, he could use Shikai and raise his blade towards me. I think the only reason why he was being so nice to me was because I was his friend and he didn't want to hurt me…"

"Are you sure?" Hinamori gasped. "I'm really sure he likes you!"

"I wish he did…" Tayomi sighed. "But he doesn't. He never will…"

* * *

"Huh?" Hinamori was overwhelmed with shock by now. "Yomi-chan doesn't love you? Oh wait, you finally admitted that you like her! At last!"

"Yeah, whatever you say. I do like her, okay? " Hitsugaya snapped. "The thing is, she doesn't like me. She's being too nice to me just because I'm her friend. She can't even tell me honestly that the guy she liked was never me."

"No, Yomi-chan likes you!" Hinamori exclaimed. "Just this afternoon, she…"

"Save it, Bed-wetter." Hitsugaya stood up. "She doesn't like me. She never will."

As Hinamori watched Hitsugaya walk off, she thought hard and her resolve strengthened. _It's so obvious that they like each other… But now they feel like the other party never loved them. I have to do something to get them back together and realise that they love each other, for both of their sakes!_

* * *

**Author's Note:  
**Hitsugaya and Tayomi have a major misunderstanding. In the next chapter, it will be more about Hinamori, Renji and Kira... As they plot and scheme to attempt to make Hitsugaya and Tayomi realise that their love isn't one-sided like they assumed it was! :D GO HINAMORI & RENJI & KIRA! I shall be pinning my hopes on you to bring them back together XD  
I hope you like this chapter, please review! :D


	25. Longing for You

**CHAPTER 25: LONGING FOR YOU**

"Since they both stubbornly feel that they were in constant self-denial about the other party's feelings towards them, when the feeling was mutual, as their senpai, we have to do something!" Hinamori crossed her arms and smiled.

Renji and Kira stared blankly at Hinamori for a moment, before realising that her words did make sense. Ever since the incident at the field training exercise, Hitsugaya and Tayomi had kept in close contact with them and they often met in their free time to chat. They really wanted to help the both of them and give them the chance to realise their love for each other. The three of them began brainstorming for ideas, but none of them seemed good enough.

"We can set them up on a date!" Kira cried.

"They'll refuse to go…" Hinamori sighed.

"We can pretend to kidnap one of them and when the other comes to save them, they realise that they love each other!" Renji exclaimed happily.

"Isn't kidnapping illegal, Abarai-kun?" Hinamori asked. Renji's smile disappeared and he sighed.

* * *

Back in class, Onabara was teaching the usual lesson on hollows and everything they needed to become outstanding Shinigami. Tayomi and Hitsugaya were still on talking terms, but ever since they thought that they did not have the other party's love, they drifted apart slightly. They remained close friends and still spoke to each other as per usual, but they did not dare to ask each other out and met less often. Tayomi felt rather upset that they were drifting apart, but was glad that he still spoke to her.

With the next field training in a week's time, Tayomi was determined to keep up her work and continue scoring amazing grades, so she could graduate early and join the Gotei 13 as soon as possible. At the corner of her eye, she saw Hitsugaya furiously writing on his notebook, his pen moving at the speed of light. _THIS IS NO TIME TO GET DISTRACTED. _Tayomi forced herself back onto the blackboard and focused on Onabara's class. Forcefully, she shoved every thought of Hitsugaya out of her mind, let Onabara's words seep into her brain and noted it down in her pink notebook. To her relief, she felt his words leave a mark in her memory and was glad that she was fully occupied with school. She knew that it was only temporary though. Once she was out of class, all the thoughts of Hitsugaya would come right back to her, distracting her from everything else.

* * *

Afternoon classes were free periods that day and most of the students of Class 1 decided to return to their rooms to do some revision. Hitsugaya returned to his room and saw that Juunrui was already inside, studying. For once Juunrui looked serious, which was a rare sight. It immediately reminded him of Tayomi, since he hardly got to see her serious side. Whenever she was around him, she was usually upbeat and full of energy, whether it was during training or outside of class. It was only when things got important, she became completely serious. That was what made her so cute, so attractive and so interesting.

Hitsugaya sighed. They were drifting apart and though they still spoke to each other often, he missed her more than ever. He remembered how fast his heartbeat was when he tried to kiss her and it felt like heaven when his lips touched hers. Hitsugaya lifted his hand up and touched his lips. Tayomi's lips were soft and sweet, just like cotton candy. He could still feel her lips on his and the kiss she gave him on his cheek. He remembered how warm he felt when she did that and sighed. If only it was a sign of love, not a sign of friendship. Maybe to Tayomi, her giving him a kiss on the cheek was a gesture of friendship, but that kiss meant the world to him. Her kiss sent him up to the heavens. He had meant to tell her properly that he loved her on her birthday, but the way things were looking, he probably would never get the chance to do so.

* * *

Tayomi twirled a strand of hair around her finger while reading her textbook. She remembered how Hitsugaya had tucked that strand of hair behind her ear that day. Just looking at hollows in her textbook reminded her of Hitsugaya. It reminded her of how they fought the hollow together that day and how he landed on top of her after it sent them flying, his nose touching hers and his lips just centimetres away from hers. She lifted her hand up and touched her lips. She could still remember the feeling of his soft lips on hers and his kiss on her forehead. A warm feeling rushed over her, instantly reminding her of the times he held her in his arms, making her feel so warm and safe, even though his reiatsu gave out a chilling sensation. She had been waiting for him to try and kiss her again, but he never did. _It must have been temporary insanity at that time… That's why he tried to kiss me…_

She felt her heart break as she realised that she would never receive a kiss from him ever again. They were friends. They were close friends. It stopped there. It would never progress further. Tayomi suddenly remembered that she was supposed to study. She had about an hour left before she had to meet Hitsugaya and study together. Hitsugaya. Hitsugaya Toushirou. He was the only boy in her heart and he was taking up a great deal of space in her life. She tried to chase away the thoughts of him before she met him and focused on her books.

Tayomi closed her books. She could not absorb anything at this rate. Picking up her books and pencil case, she quickly ran off to the garden to study. One way or another, she had to stop thinking of him, immerse herself in the beauty of cherry blossoms and the tranquillity of nature and study.

* * *

"Well… So shall we do that?" Hinamori asked.

"Yeah… But that's in five months time. And that is provided they do graduate this year." Renji said.

"I think they can do it. A graduation dance is always the best time for romance." Kira smiled. "For now, we have to just let nature take its course and hope that they can remain close."

* * *

**Author's note:  
**I had meant for this chapter to be more light-hearted... But I was listening to 'Sakura Biyori' by Mai Hoshimura and ended up going on full-out emo mode, that's why the chapter turned out so serious instead and I went mad writing about their emotions. Though on the bright side, now you know what's on their mind :) Next chapter, they meet and study together. And Hitsugaya gets reckless! XD Thanks for reading, please review :D


	26. Driving me Mad

**CHAPTER 26: DRIVING ME MAD**

The cherry blossoms fell from the trees and were blown away by the breeze, sending its petals flying about, creating a magnificent sight. Hitsugaya walked into the garden and searched for Tayomi. As expected, there she was, lying on the grass on her stomach, tucking behind a strand of hair behind her ear while turning the pages of her notebook. With all the flower petals floating in the breeze and Tayomi in the midst of it, she looked like an angel that was sent to him. Perhaps she was sent to him, but she was not his. Clearing his mind, he walked towards her, clutching his books and pencil case in his hand.

Tayomi heard the grass rustle a little louder than usual and knew that it was not caused by only the wind. She looked up from her books and saw Hitsugaya gazing at her. She smiled at him and felt her heart beat faster and faster. He slowly walked up beside her and sat down, taking out his books to study. Tayomi immediately looked back down at her books. For a moment, there was an awkward silence and neither of them had spoken a word. Hitsugaya decided to take the initiative and speak to her.

"We're in the same group for the next field training right?" He asked.

Tayomi looked up at him with her eyes wide. He was talking to her. Although he usually spoke to her with the same tone, but that was before, when she thought he liked her. Now everything was different. The painful reality had presented itself to her and she felt happy, yet devastated around him. Nevertheless, he was still her close friend. She could not let her feelings towards him affect their friendship. Nervously, she briefly considered what she should say, before replying him.

"Yeah." She could not think of anything else to say.

She looked back down at her book and felt stupid. _Did you have nothing better to say? _Sighing, she wondered why she could not have replied in a better way and why Hitsugaya had nothing better to ask her. Secretly, she felt disappointed that he had nothing to say about what had happened that day either. Had he really nothing to say after raising his blade at her with his Shikai? Did he really have nothing to say to her? Not even an apology or an explanation? For the next few minutes, Tayomi studied her notebook, while waiting for Hitsugaya to say something. However, he stayed silent for these few minutes and Tayomi contemplated attempting to say something, but decided against it. It was better if he took the initiative and even so, she had nothing to say.

The atmosphere felt tense. Neither of them were speaking to each other. It was killing Hitsugaya inside. It was driving him mad. Why wasn't she speaking to him at all? _She's being too nice to me again… She refuses to tell me that she never liked me and chose to keep quiet. That's just like her. _He sighed and tried to focus on his work, but Tayomi was right in front of him and that was more than enough to distract him. Inside, he was dying to know what she really felt about him and he just wanted to hear her rejection straight from her mouth, so he could give up on her. But the problem was, could he really let her go? He loved her so much, to the extent that he was willing to die for her…

* * *

In a moment of recklessness, he closed his books, pushed her to the ground and got on top of her. He looked straight into her eyes. Tayomi was shocked by his actions. _Somehow, the position we're in feels so wrong… I hope no one sees us like this… _She stared back into his eyes, wondering what was going on in his mind. He bowed his head down, with his hands holding her wrists down. Tayomi knew that he would not do anything to her and felt that something was bothering him, stressing him out completely. She finally knew what to say now.

"Susu-chan…" Her voice was gentle and full of concern. "Are you alright?"

Hitsugaya shook his head and she felt his tears fall on her shirt. Slowly, he bent down and kissed the right side of her neck. Tayomi's eyes grew wide. _What did he just do? _He had kissed her, when she expected no more from him. His lips stayed on her neck and Tayomi turned her head to the right to look at him, beginning to cry as well. She wondered what she should do. Now she was confused and all messed up inside, unsure of how he really felt towards her. Since she was being pinned down by him and unable to move, there was a limit to what she could do. Even if they could not be lovers, they were still best friends and she hated seeing him in such a state.

Hitsugaya let go of her wrist and hugged her, holding her close to his body. Tayomi slowly put her arms around his neck, her face still full of shock. _I think he's as insane as that time when he tried to kiss me…_

"Why won't you just be honest with me…" Hitsugaya spoke coldly.

"Huh? Honest about what?" Tayomi asked.

"About your feelings towards me…"

Tayomi thought for a second. "It's not easy to say… How do you expect me to tell you so openly without being afraid?"

"Well… I know how you feel about me. So, save your breath." Hitsugaya's voice grew colder. "Stop pretending to feel something you don't feel. Let go of me."

"But…"

"Let go of me now, Tayomi." Tayomi was too frozen up to loosen her grip on him. Hitsugaya forced her hands apart and freed himself from her arms, his heart aching at the same time. "I know how you feel about me. But we both know that we can only be best friends."

Hitsugaya walked off and Tayomi stared at him. _He knew that I liked him… He told me to stop pretending that I treat him as only a friend… He just rejected me…_

* * *

"Huh? Shiro-chan rejected you?" Hinamori, Renji and Kira all gasped. Tayomi nodded.

* * *

"Huh? Tayomi was afraid to tell you that she never liked you?" The three of them gasped again. Hitsugaya nodded, before he walked off.

* * *

"Their misunderstanding has deepened…" Hinamori sighed. "Should we have a plan B?"

"Well, it depends." Kira sighed.

"We should just brainstorm for some possible plan Bs…" Renji sighed. The three of them sat in a circle and thought hard.

* * *

**Author's note:  
**Their misunderstanding just deepened... Anyways, next chapter is field training again! Maybe more hollows will gate-crash them again... (Why do hollows always do that?) Hope you liked this chapter and please review! :D


	27. The Almost Vasto Lorde

**CHAPTER 27: THE ALMOST VASTO LORDE**

"Hadou 4, Byakurai."

Tayomi pointed at the hollow, shooting a lightning bolt from her finger, causing the hollow to disintegrate. She spotted a hollow running towards her from the corner of her eye and quickly unsheathed her Zanpakutou, cutting it into half. She spotted Hitsugaya being cornered by five hollows and quickly held two of them back with Bakudou, giving Hitsugaya time to kill of the other three. While he focused on the three hollows, Tayomi used Hadou 33, Sokatsui on the two hollows.

In total, they had killed twenty hollows in their first ten minutes of field training. For some unknown reason, all the hollows were flocking to them. There was still three hours to go before field training ended. Three hours, one hundred and eighty minutes. At the rate they were going, they would probably kill three hundred and sixty hollows by the time training was over.

* * *

Hinamori, Renji and Kira watched over the two of them from afar, before returning to their stations. A shadow lurked over the whole training facility and headed towards Hitsugaya and Tayomi, cleverly hiding its reiatsu, determined to give its prey the greatest surprise of their lives. Hitsugaya and Tayomi smiled at each other, ready to continue walking. Just then, it swiftly moved in front of them, blocking their way. It had a white mask, the shape of a butterfly, and dark blue human-like body. It towered over Hitsugaya and Tayomi and spoke.

"Hello there, my prey… Who wants to become my dinner first?"

Tayomi instantly recognised it as an Adjuchas. However, it looked rather close to a human, bringing her to conclude that the Adjuchas was very close to becoming a Vasto Lorde. The situation they were in was dangerous. This hollow was even more powerful than the first Adjuchas they fought. Tayomi looked at Hitsugaya and they both knew they had to give it their all for this fight. It would be a matter of life and death.

"None." Tayomi turned serious and unsheathed her Zanpakutou, while wondering why hollows kept coming to them. "Ikkimaku, Inazuma Kaze!"

"Soten ni zase, Hyourinmaru!" Hitsugaya released his Zanpakutou as well.

"Well, as long as I get to devour one of you, I will become a Vasto Lorde. You little brats want to do it the hard way? Fine!" The Adjuchas launched itself at Tayomi and attempted to slash her. Tayomi quickly used Shunpo to dodge the attack and appeared behind the Adjuchas, slashing it once. _I have to aim to slash this guy as much as I can, then I can use my favourite technique! After that, I can use my final technique… And this hollow will be done for! _Hitsugaya sent several ice dragons after the Adjuchas, who avoided it at the speed of light. Tayomi continued slashing it continuously, making Hitsugaya wonder if she was really ok. Continuous slashes were not Tayomi's style of fighting at all, she usually resorted to Bakudou and Kidou spells. After slashing it ten times, Tayomi raised her blade and tilted it to the right.

"Inazuma."

The Adjuchas felt as if he was being electrocuted all over. The places where Tayomi had slashed him lighted up and started to spark off bolts of lightning. The lightning ran through his wounds and started to work its magic. The Adjuchas roared in pain as the lightning shocked the life out of him. Hitsugaya watched in awe and decided to take the chance to kill it. He sent an ice dragon at the Adjuchas, freezing it all over. He grabbed Tayomi's hand and ran away from the Adjuchas.

* * *

"Susu-chan, why are we running?" Tayomi shouted over the chaos.

"We have to tell someone about this!" Hitsugaya turned back and screamed back. "I think he'll break out of the ice soon, the fight isn't over at all!"

Tayomi spotted Hinamori, Kira and Renji. Hitsugaya and she hopped up to their post and informed them about the presence of an Adjuchas about to turn into a Vasto Lorde. Soon after, they hopped back down to hold off the Adjuchas, despite Hinamori shouting after them. Tayomi told Hitsugaya to try and keep the Adjuchas in a fixed position, so she could use her final technique. Hitsugaya nodded and directed his slashes towards the ground, forming a wave of ice, which froze the Adjuchas again. He warned Tayomi that it might not last long, so she had to hurry. Both of them began to leak their reiatsu and Tayomi took a deep breath, ready to try her final technique for the first time.

"Kaze."

Wind swirled from the tip of her blade towards the Adjuchas. The wind surrounded it and began to spark off. The air particles began to charge, turning into mini lightning bolts. The charged air particles engulfed the Adjuchas and joined together, ultimately forming an orb around it. They electrocuted the Adjuchas over and over again, waiting for a signal to stop. Tayomi waited until enough damage was done, before firing Hadou 54, Haien at it, disintegrating the Adjuchas. Tayomi smiled. The fight was over at last. Suddenly, she felt a sharp pain on her stomach and looked down to see that she had been slashed by it. _How could I have not noticed this earlier… _Blood dripped down from her wound, staining her Shingami robes with blood, making her uniform even redder than usual. She felt her vision blur and heard an array of voices calling her. The last thing she felt was Hitsugaya holding her in his arms, looking at her. Tayomi closed her eyes and her world blacked out.

* * *

She woke up in an unfamiliar place and realised she was in the school's medical office. It was late in the evening and the moonlight streamed into her room, into her eyes. She turned her head to the right and saw Hinamori, Kira and Renji asleep on the chairs. Tayomi felt something on her hand and turned to her left. Hitsugaya was fast asleep, his hand tightly holding onto hers. She lifted her right hand and placed it on his head, running her fingers through his hair. _Now I'm not sure if he likes me at all… I hope he does. _Hitsugaya felt her move and looked up to see her smiling at him. He smiled back and watched her fall back asleep.

* * *

**Author's note:  
**Ok so maybe in a way, they have sort of made up... I will announce that this Arc is ending in... 4 CHAPTERS! :D Mainly because I am excited to start the new Arc and the second half the year is all about exams. So for those who are itching and waiting for that certain moment, look forward to Chapter 31 :D Next chapter is about the exams and their results. Tayomi and Hitsugaya get good news as well! Please review! ^.^


	28. In A Year

**CHAPTER 28: IN A YEAR**

The hall and corridors were absolutely silent. Even the slightest sound produced was akin to making noise in the school. Tayomi's hand moved at the speed of lightning, as she scribbled down her answers neatly. As everything she had learnt for the past year about becoming a Shinigami flowed into her mind non-stop, her pen ran across the pages, answering the questions in the exam paper. A year had flown past and it was their eleventh month in school. Here she was, taking her final year exams. Whether she could graduate within the year depended on this exam and Tayomi had worked herself in order to do well.

After her written test, she heaved a sigh of relief. Next up was all about Shinigami Arts. She was confident about everything except Hakuda, hoping that she would not freeze up and kill her chances of graduating early. Everyone entered the Kidou training room once their names were called. They were expected to perform the spells that the instructor ordered them to and it was up to them if they wanted to recite the incantations. Finally, it was Tayomi's turn. Hitsugaya wished her luck before she entered and nervously, she walked into the Kidou training room to see the Kidou examiner sitting there. He ordered her to perform Hadou 33.

"Hadou 33, Sokatsui!"

Tayomi fired it, burning the target to pieces. Since there was only one target there, she could only burn it and nothing else. She did not intend to send the Kidou training room up into flames. The examiner nodded and proceeded to ask her to perform any binding spell of her choice. Tayomi decided to take a chance and perform a high level binding spell. She performed Bakudou 75, Gochutekkan, which went well. The five pillars crashed onto the ground perfectly, not causing too much of an explosion. After that, she was asked to perform Hadou 88, Hadou 91, Bakudou 81 and Bakudou 61, all of which went well. Tayomi left the Kidou training room, satisfied with her performance.

After lunch, Class 1 had their Zanjutsu exam. They were to challenge their instructor and spar with him. Whether they won or lost did not matter as the examiner was looking out for technique, but Tayomi felt that it would be better to win. Once she entered the room, she unsheathed her Zanpakutou and sparred against her instructor, with the examiner watching their battle. She was able to dodge every single attack and strike her instructor. Although she felt a bit disrespectful doing so, her instructor had told her to give it her all before they started and she knew she would let him down if she suppressed herself. The battle ended with Tayomi knocking her instructor down to the ground, which signified her victory. She helped her instructor up and smiled. Once again, she left the room happy.

Hoho exam went fine, since it was more like a workout for Tayomi. She used Shunpo and ran from end to end of the room in seconds. The examiner seemed rather impressed and she went out of the Hoho room, glad that she had only one exam left. However, it was her biggest fear- Hakuda. They were required to spar against their instructor with an examiner watching them. Tayomi entered the room, her heart beating at a faster pace than usual. She had to get over her past and her fear for her own good. If she wanted to graduate early and do her family proud, she had to go for it and beat him up. She looked at her instructor, imagining that he was a villain, about to hurt her friends. Once the examiner yelled start, Tayomi applied everything she learnt in Hakuda and beat him up to a pulp. She left the room, heaving a sigh of relief. Exams were over, now it was time to wait for her results.

* * *

A week later, the results were finally released. As Onabara went around the class, handing out their final year exam results and overall report card, Tayomi could not stop shivering and clutched both her hands tightly. Hitsugaya sat beside her, too nervous to speak. He looked around, hoping no one was watching him before he reached out his hand and placed it on Tayomi's hands. Tayomi looked up at him and instantly calmed down, focusing on stopping herself from blushing. Just then, an announcement blasted from the school's radio.

"Hitsugaya Toushirou and Tayomi Sakuri of Class 1, please come to Captain-commander Yanamoto's office immediately!"

Hitsugaya and Tayomi stared at each other, wondering if they were in trouble. Onabara told them to hurry and they rushed off to Captain-commander Yanamoto's office immediately. Knocking on the door, Hitsugaya cautiously opened the door and entered, followed by Tayomi. Yanamoto was an elderly man with a long white beard who seemed stern. _I hope we're not in trouble… _They stood in front of him, wondering what he was about to say.

"The two of you have done very well and obtained the top scores in your class." Yanamoto handed their report cards to them. Tayomi looked at her results. She had obtained a perfect score for Kidou and did very well for her other components, with Hakuda being her weakest as usual. "Thus, you will both be able to graduate this year. Congratulations! You may take your leave now."

Tayomi and Hitsugaya bowed and thanked him, before leaving the room and closing the door behind them. Once they were outside his office and on their way back to class, Tayomi squealed and jumped up and down, instinctively squeezing Hitsugaya.

"WE'RE GRADUATING!" She shouted excitedly, hugging him tight.

"Yes, I know…" Hitsugaya smiled and patted her head.

* * *

Hitsugaya met Hinamori, Renji and Kira at night and told them the good news. They congratulated him and praised him. Hitsugaya thanked them and decided to get to the point. He explained that in two weeks time, it would be Tayomi's birthday and he intended to plan something for her.

"Ooh, someone's rather eager!" Renji teased, causing Hitsugaya to grumble a little.

"Hitsugaya-kun, why don't you throw a party for her?" Kira suggested.

"Yeah! I'm sure Yomi-chan would like that." Hinamori exclaimed. "If you want, you can have it between the five of us, so we can leave you two alone and…"

"Shut up, Bed-wetter. Will you help me or not?" Hitsugaya snapped. Renji, Kira and Hinamori nodded.

"Well then, let's start planning this party!" Hinamori smiled.

* * *

**Author's note:  
**YAY WE'RE GONNA HAVE A PARTY! :D Tayomi's birthday! I'm so happy *sniff*, she's growing up! What will Hitsugaya get for her birthday? And you will get angry at her after you read the next chapter (Yes, she's falling off stuff again...), but I'm sure Hitsugaya will find a way to her :D Hope you liked this chapter! Please review! ^.^


	29. Happy Birthday, YomiChan!

**CHAPTER 29: HAPPY BIRTHDAY, YOMI-CHAN!**

Tayomi opened her eyes slowly, feeling a year older. _Oh yay! It's my birthday today! _Once she got up, Kiseida pounced on her, knocking her back down onto her bed.

"YOMI-CHAN! HAPPY BIRTHDAY!" Kiseida yelled.

Tayomi smiled and hugged her. Kiseida thrust a present into her hands and told her to open it. She opened it gingerly and saw the notebook she had been wanting for a month, ever since they last went shopping together. She squealed and pounced on Kiseida, hugging her even tighter than usual. The year was ending and since she was graduating, her time left with Kiseida would be very little. It was November 29th, which meant she had thirty two days left before she bid farewell to the Spiritual Arts Academy.

The Dance for graduates was on New Year's Eve and Tayomi had not a clue what it was about. Hinamori told her it was a usual party where guys ask girls to be their partner and they go to the Dance together. Tayomi was a bit worried. Since Hitsugaya and she were the only ones among the first year students who were graduating, it meant they would be the youngest there. Their height did not help much at all. She started to worry and hoped she would not go alone. She forgot her problems when her classmates bombarded her with presents, making her happy. For some reason, Hitsugaya was completely out of sight and she wondered where he was.

For the afternoon, Class 1 celebrated her birthday with her. They had a fun time under the sun, playing silly games. It doubled as a farewell party for her, since she was leaving their class at the end of the year. All the girls hugged her, telling her they would lose a fellow female in their class and how much they would miss her. Tayomi hugged them all back, wiping away the tears in both her and their eyes. She knew in her heart that she would miss her whole class. Though graduating early was good, she had to admit that this year had been one of the happiest years in her life. The whole Class had a group hug, without Hitsugaya. Tayomi wondered where Hitsugaya was and felt that the group hug felt different without him. _Maybe on his birthday, our class can have a proper group hug…_

* * *

In the evening, Hinamori caught her after her bath and covered her eyes. She instructed Tayomi to follow her and not to peep. Tayomi was kept in suspense. _Where is Hina-chan taking me?_ When she opened her eyes, she gasped. The garden was decorated with lights, illuminating the flowers under the sinking sun. There was a cake for her as well, probably made by her senpai. Hitsugaya, Renji and Kira stood there, all smiling at her. After taking it all in and realising that her friends had set up a party specially for her, she laughed and thanked them.

"Happy birthday, Tayomi-chan!" The four of them cried.

Tayomi squealed and gave them each a hug. Kira, Renji and Hinamori had to bend down to hug her though, Hitsugaya had no need to. For some reason, she felt that Hitsugaya had held her for a longer time. Smiling, Hinamori told Tayomi to cut the cake. Tayomi giggled, saying that she had had quite a lot of cake on her birthday, but since they had put in so much effort, she would risk gaining weight and eat the cake. Hinamori smiled and Kira told Tayomi that Hitsugaya planned the whole thing. Renji nodded, with Hitsugaya standing beside him, blushing. Tayomi smiled and ran over to Hitsugaya, grabbing his hand and thanking him, making them both laugh.

For the rest of the evening, the five of them discussed the graduation Dance. Hinamori would be going with Kira and Renji would be taking another girl in his class. Tayomi said that no one had asked her yet, so she would wait for someone to ask her. Hinamori nudged Hitsugaya.

"What, Bed-wetter?" Hitsugaya grumbled.

"You'd better do it this time! I'm not helping you!" Hinamori huffed.

"Whatever…"

Hinamori, Renji and Kira had shared a present and bought a white bunny soft toy for her. Tayomi thanked and hugged them again. She cuddled the bunny. It was soft, fluffy and definitely huggable. She knew she was going to place it on her bed and sleep with it every night. Hinamori, Renji and Kira had to go back to their rooms and bid farewell to her and Hitsugaya. Kira patted Hitsugaya on the back, before he left. Tayomi waited for them to leave, before she dragged Hitsugaya to the railing in the garden, near a cherry blossom tree. She asked him where he had been for the whole day and why he did not turn up for the class party. Hitsugaya kept silent for a while, before answering her. According to him, he had been busy with the preparations. He looked at Tayomi and took out a silver bracelet with a small snowflake charm attached to it.

"Happy birthday, Tayomi." He smiled at her.

* * *

Tayomi was stunned for a moment, before she finally giggled and thanked him. She outstretched her right arm and bugged Hitsugaya to put it on for her. He nodded and put the bracelet on her right wrist. The shiny, white snowflake sparkled under the moonlight and Tayomi smiled, admiring its beauty. Hitsugaya watched her look at his present with a certain love. Under the moonlight, her black hair looked glossier than usual and her purplish-blue eyes sparkled with life. He felt the same feeling come over him again, the same feeling he felt when they sat on the tree together and their lips touched. Tayomi noticed Hitsugaya gazing at her, smiling at the same time. She smiled back at him and he leaned closer to her again. Tayomi felt herself being attracted to him and learned closer to him. This time, their noses touched first and they gazed into each other's eyes up close. Then, their lips closed the distance in between their faces and Hitsugaya's lips slowly went towards her. Tayomi's went closer to his as well and she felt his lips touch hers again. It felt like heaven, but she felt unsteady. _I should not have sat on the railing…_ She felt herself lose her balance and tumble backwards, off the railing.

"AHHHH!"

She tumbled onto the ground and stayed there for a few seconds, feeling stupid. She had done it again… Hitsugaya rushed behind the railing, towards her. He pulled her up immediately, feeling disappointed inside as he had missed again. Why was she so hard to kiss? He sighed and Tayomi giggled. He looked at her innocent face and knew she did not fall off deliberately to avoid him. It was purely and accident. He knew the next time he tried, he would have to be careful. Hitsugaya still felt like he should give her something special and quickly kissed her on the cheek. Tayomi blushed and kissed him back.

"Um… I'll walk you back to your room." Hitsugaya mumbled. "But before you go, I want to ask you something…"

"Yes?" Tayomi's eyes grew wide.

"Well… Um…." Hitsugaya stuttered. "You know… The G-grad-du-duation D-dance…W-will you go with me?"

Tayomi nodded happily. Hitsugaya smiled and hugged her. Holding hands, they walked off.

* * *

**Author's Note:  
**Well the last time, she fell off a tree. Now she falls off the railing. *Sighs* She hasn't grown up... But at least they're going to the Graduation Dance together :D Next chapter, it will be someone else's birthday... Hitsugaya's Birthday! December 20th... XD What will Tayomi get for him? What will she do? Find out in the next chapter :D Please review!  
Oh and I finally got my 10th reviewer...Tiryn! :D  
And the idea for Hitsugaya's present came from my friend Jazion Keera... She writes awesome stories XD


	30. Susuchan Day!

**CHAPTER 30: SUSU-CHAN DAY! **

"Hina-chan…Abarai-Kun…Kira-kun…" Tayomi asked nervously. "Susu-chan's birthday is next week. Can we… plan a party for him or something? My class is planning something, but I want to plan something special for him on my own too…"

Hinamori, Renji and Kira all stared at her, before smiling. Tayomi was so adorable, with her cheeks turning bright red. They agreed to help her with the preparations. Excitedly, Tayomi whipped out a piece of paper from her pocket and stuffed it in their faces. It was well-planned, with everything from presents to cake included. Tayomi asked Hinamori to help her with the cake and the boys to help her with the decorations. She knew Hitsugaya liked cold places and intended to search for lots of dried ice, creating a cold effect.

Tayomi still had not decided on a present to get for him. She really wanted to get him something he liked, but Hitsugaya hardly showed personality or interest in things, so it was really hard. After a few moments of thinking, she decided to get him something he needed, like something to hold his Zanpakutou. She remembered that the sash he used to tie his Zanpakutou to his back had broken a few days back. Smiling, she decided to make him a new sash and hurriedly ran to a nearby shop to purchase a dark green fabric. She locked herself in her room and sewed it into a sash, poking her fingers quite a few times. _It looks plain… _Suddenly, it came to her. She rummaged her room for the round clip with a star on it. After a few minutes of insane searching, she found it and clipped it onto the sash. Now it looked much better. She took out an ice blue piece of paper and her pens and began writing his birthday card.

* * *

At last, it was the 20th of December. It was Susu-chan's birthday. The class would have his party in the morning and Tayomi woke up early, deciding to give him the card first. Hitsugaya was actually happy for once as everyone bombarded him with presents. He smiled and thanked everyone. Tayomi gave him his card, whispering into his ear that she would give him the rest of his present later. Their class finally had a proper group hug, as they bid their final goodbye to the two prodigies who would be graduating in eleven days.

After the class party, Tayomi rushed off to the cafeteria to meet Hinamori. It was late in the afternoon already and they had to make Hitsugaya's cake. Hinamori was already standing there, waiting for her with the ingredients. Tayomi raced towards her and put on the apron Hinamori had passed to her. They weighed the flour, butter and sugar, beat the eggs and prepared the icing. As Hinamori looked after the mixing, Tayomi decided to take care of the icing, as she knew she would take a long time to prepare it. As the cake baked in the oven, Tayomi was still having a bit of trouble getting the icy blue colour. Once she dropped a drop of blue food colouring in, the whole icing mix would turn dark blue. If she added water, it would become too thick. After half an hour of hard work, Tayomi managed to get the perfect colour. At the same time, the cake was ready and she spread the icing all over the cake, while Hinamori sprinkled snowflake-shaped candy all over it. After decoration, the cake looked perfect. Hinamori told her she would bring the cake to the venue and told Tayomi to take her bath.

Tayomi took a quick bath and dried her hair, before slipping her pink hairband back onto her head. She grabbed the sash she made and ran to the garden, towards the tree where she first met Hitsugaya. Renji and Kira had done a good job with the decorations and the place looked like a winter wonderland. The cake was already there as well. Hinamori told Tayomi to get Hitsugaya, who was in their classroom. Tayomi nodded and ran off to get Hitsugaya. She ran up to their classroom and saw him sitting on his table, watching the sun set. Quietly, she sneaked up behind him and hugged him from the back, resting her chin on his shoulder.

"Susu-chan, I wanna take you somewhere." She giggled. "Now close your eyes!"

* * *

She covered his eyes and brought him to the garden, where everything was set up perfectly. Slowly, she uncovered his eyes and let him see what she had created for him.

"Happy birthday, Hitsugaya!" Hinamori, Renji and Kira all shouted.

Hitsugaya smiled at them and thanked all of them. Tayomi held him by the hand and presented the cake to him, telling him that she and Hinamori made it and Renji and Kira did the decorations. Hinamori, Kira and Renji laughed, telling Hitsugaya that Tayomi had done all the planning by herself. He immediately turned to look at her and Tayomi looked down at her feet, her hands behind her back and shuffling her feet. Hitsugaya cut the cake and Hinamori, Renji and Kira gave him his presents, hair gel and a new cup. Tayomi went last and gave him the sash she made for him. Hinamori, Renji and Kira decided to clean up the area and chased Tayomi and Hitsugaya away, hoping to give them some alone time. As the two of them walked off, the three of them smiled, glad that they had made up and possibly realised that they had loved each other after all. There was no need for any plan at all; nature had taken its course and headed for the right direction.

They returned to their classroom to look at the stars. Tayomi took a final look at the place where she had studied and spent many happy days in. Hitsugaya sat down on his table and looked out towards the sky. She sat on her table and hugged him from the back, resting her head on his back. Hitsugaya turned back to look at her and smiled, holding her hands which were wrapped around his waist.

"Happy birthday Susu-chan…" Tayomi smiled. "I can't believe we're graduating soon… I'm actually growing up…"

Hitsugaya gave a cold laugh. "Do you even grow up at all?"

"YES." Tayomi shot him an angry look. Hitsugaya patted her on the head.

"Then, don't grow up too much…"

Tayomi kissed him on the cheek and smiled. Hitsugaya looked at her for a while, before kissing her back on the forehead. The two sat on the tables together, staring at the night sky from their classroom for the last time.

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Author's note:

I hope you liked this chapter! Can you believe it? This story is ending and their life in Gotei 13 is about to start! TAYOMI IS GROWING UP! Next chapter will be the last chapter, THE GRADUATION DANCE! :D Yay stay tuned and please review! 


	31. Epilogue Graduation

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**CHAPTER 31: GRADUATION**

Outside, the raindrops hit against the window pane furiously, with the wind blowing harder than the usual breeze. Tayomi hugged her bunny toy and clutched it close to her chest, hiding under her warm blanket. She looked across and watched Kiseida sleep. Sadness instantly overwhelmed her. It was New Years Eve and that meant that it was her last day at the Spiritual Arts Academy. Next year, she would not be seeing Kiseida or any of her friends. If she made it into the Gotei 13, she might end up in a different squad from Hitsugaya as well.

She kicked her blanket aside and felt the cold air rush through her body. Tayomi got up and walked to the window, watching the raindrops fall as she clutched her white robes tightly to her chest. She looked out into the rain and suddenly remembered that it was the Graduation Dance today. It really did signify the end of her school days here. She had many things to do today and she had not started on anything at all. According to Hinamori, she had to pick dresses, wear makeup and do her hair, but Tayomi did not feel like doing any of them, excluding wearing a dress of course. Hinamori said she had bought a dress for her and hoped Hinamori chose a dress that could fit her.

That afternoon, Tayomi went over to Hinamori's room. Hinamori dragged her in and smiled, telling her that she would make her pretty. Tayomi blushed and told Hinamori that she would look much better than her. Hinamori laughed and patted her on the head, saying that as her senpai, she would make her look her best for her childhood friend. She blushed again and hugged Hinamori. Hinamori was just like a big sister to her and though she never had one, she practically treated Hinamori like family. Hinamori's room was empty, as her roommate had graduated early just like Tayomi. She took out the black dress and forced Tayomi into the bathroom with it, rushing her to put it on. Tayomi quickly got changed and showed Hinamori the dress. The black, halter-necked dress had a light pink ribbon tied to the back, right under her chest. The flared dress was five fingers above her knees and Tayomi looked grown-up, yet adorable in it. Hinamori quickly got changed into her pale green dress with spaghetti straps and they preened in front of the mirror for a few minutes. _Hina-chan had really chosen a nice dress for me…_

"Hina-chan!" Tayomi hugged Hinamori tight. "Thank you…"

* * *

"Hitsugaya-kun, look at what we bought for you!" Kira held up a black tuxedo for Hitsugaya and Renji held a dark blue tie and a bottle of hair gel. Hitsugaya stared at the hair gel. _Oh my gosh, what are they going to do to me…_

Kira and Renji forced Hitsugaya into the bathroom and made him get changed. Hitsugaya stared at the tuxedo before he finally undressed and wore the tuxedo. When he came out, Kira and Renji took turns getting dressed. Once they were both done, Renji opened the bottle of hair gel and started doing Hitsugaya's hair in spikes, leaving a few strands of hair at the side of his face to make a fringe. Kira helped Hitsugaya tie his tie, making him feel slightly awkward as he had so many people working on him. Curious, he asked Kira and Renji if it was necessary to do so much work on him.

"Of course!" Renji cried. "We are going to make you look perfect!"

"For Tayomi-chan, of course." Kira smiled. "I'm sure she's eager to see you in a suit as much as you are to see her in a dress!"

_He's right. I am excited to see what she will wear._

* * *

Tayomi stared at the make-up Hinamori had bought for her. _Hina-chan doesn't look like the type who wears make-up… _Hinamori laughed, saying that she never wore make-up either. She had bought an eyeliner, mascara and lipstick. Tayomi refused to wear the lipstick and decided to use only the mascara. They sat in front of the mirror together, trying to figure out how to put on the make-up without getting their dresses dirty. After half an hour of attempts, they finally got it on and looked as if they had grown up. Tayomi combed her hair and put on a thin, shiny pink hair band and helped Hinamori tie her hair to the side. They were good to go. Hinamori handed a pair of black high heels to Tayomi and told her to practice walking in it.

"It's rather easy…" Tayomi giggled, relieved that the heels were not very high and she would not trip easily in them. "I feel taller!"

"Alright then, let's wait for the boys to come here, Yomi-chan." Hinamori smiled. "I hope Shiro-chan will love the way you look."

"Me too…"

* * *

Hitsugaya knocked on the door nervously. Hinamori opened the door and covered his eyes. Kira and Hitsugaya entered their room and Kira saw Tayomi and gasped. He congratulated Hinamori on a job well done; making Hitsugaya's heart beat faster.

"I present to you…" Hinamori uncovered his eyes. "Tayomi-chan!"

Hitsugaya's eyes grew wide as Tayomi stood in front of him, in a dress that suited her well and accentuated the shape of her body. Her eyes looked even brighter than usual and she still had her usual pink, girly blush. In short, she looked absolutely stunning. Tayomi gazed at Hitsugaya, who was dressed smartly in a suit and tie. His hair was done up into spikes and he no longer looked like a boy to her. He looked like a man. Hitsugaya walked towards her slowly and took her hand into his, walking her out of the door. Tayomi had a strong feeling that the night was going to be great.

The graduates came up class by class, with Hitsugaya and Tayomi being the only graduates of their year. As they looked at the sea of students clapping, Tayomi could not help but feel overjoyed. She was graduating at last. After the ceremony was over, dinner started and they served it up. It would be her last time tasting food from the Spiritual Arts Academy and just eating made a rush of nostalgia overwhelmed her. Before she knew it, the night was almost over and now was the class performances. Each sixth-year class, first-year, second-year, third-year, fourth-year and fifth-year graduates were to put up a five minute performance that night. First up were the two first-year students. Tayomi and Hitsugaya stood up and walked up onstage, facing the crowd of graduates, in front of the microphone. Tayomi took a deep breath and started singing.

"Take this silver lining  
Keep it in your own  
Sweet head  
And shine it when the night is  
Burning red  
Shine it in the twilight  
Shine it on the cold, cold ground  
Shine it till these walls  
Come tumbling down"

Hitsugaya began to sing as well.

"We were born with our eyes wide open  
So alive with wild hope now  
Can you tell me why  
Time after time they drag you down  
Down in the darkest deep  
Fools and their madness all around  
Know that the light don't sleep"

They looked at each other and sang together.

"Step into the silence  
Take it in your own  
Two hands  
And sprinkle it like diamonds  
All across these lands  
Blaze it in the morning  
Wear it like an iron skin  
Only things worth living for are  
Innocence and magic, amen

We were born with our eyes wide open  
So alive with wild hope now  
Can you tell me why  
Time after time they drag you down  
Down in the darkest deep  
Fools and their madness all around  
Know that the light don't sleep

Woah, wooah

We were born with our eyes wide open  
So alive with wild hope now  
Can you tell me why  
Time after time they drag you down  
Down in the talk so cheap  
Fools and their madness all around  
Know that the light don't sleep  
Know that the light don't sleep

Time after time  
They drag you down  
Down in the darkness deep  
Fools in their madness all around  
Know that the light don't sleep  
Know that the light don't sleep"

They turned to look at each other and shifted their microphones, to sing towards each other. Hitsugaya took a deep breath and started.

"Stones, heavy like the love you've shown  
Solid as the ground we've known  
And I just wanna carry on  
We took it from the bottom up  
And even in a desert storm  
Sturdy as a rock we hold  
Wishing every moment froze  
Now I just wanna let you know  
Earthquakes can't shake us  
Cyclones can't break us  
Hurricanes can't take away our love"

They sang together, their hearts tied together.

"Pyramid, we built this on a solid rock  
It feels just like it's heaven's touch  
Together at the top, like a pyramid  
And even when the wind is blowing  
We'll never fall just keep on going  
Forever we will stay, like a pyramid

Like a pyramid like a pyramid eh  
Like a pyramid like a pyramid eh  
Like a pyramid like a pyramid eh eh "

Tayomi continued singing.

"Cold, never ever when you're close  
We will never let it fold  
A story that was never told  
Something like a mystery  
And every step we took we've grown  
Look how fast the time has flown  
A journey to a place unknown  
We're going down in history  
Earthquakes can't shake us  
Cyclones can't break us  
Hurricanes can't take away our love"

Together, holding each other's hands, they sang the chorus.

"Pyramid, we built this on a solid rock  
It feels just like it's heaven's touch  
Together at the top, like a pyramid  
And even when the wind is blowing  
We'll never fall just keep on going  
Forever we will stay, like a pyramid"

Hitsugaya squeezed her hand and sang.

"Like a pyramid,girl, I'ma show you  
That I love you so much  
That we're gonna get through  
Even when it storms I will never go  
I'ma be the one to keep you safe"

Tayomi joined in.

"Before was a love, I care more than enough  
Holding on to one another, be the cover when it's rough  
Mother nature, or disaster, won't stop our happy ever after…

Pyramid, we built this on a solid rock  
It feels just like it's heaven's touch  
Together at the top, like a pyramid  
And even when the wind is blowing  
We'll never fall just keep on going  
Forever we will stay, like a pyramid

Pyramid, we built this on a solid rock  
It feels just like it's heaven's touch  
Together at the top, like a pyramid  
And even when the wind is blowing  
We'll never fall just keep on going  
Forever we will stay, like a pyramid

Like a pyramid like a pyramid eh  
Like a pyramid like a pyramid eh  
Like a pyramid like a pyramid eh eh"

The whole ballroom erupted into applause. Tayomi and Hitsugaya went offstage to watch the rest of the performances.

Finally, the end of the night was about to arrive. It was time to dance and Hitsugaya and Tayomi danced together. Hitsugaya held her left hand and waist and twirled her around. Tayomi could feel her eyes glued to his the whole time they were dancing. For some reason that night, she felt especially attracted to him. As for Hitsugaya, he felt very much attracted to her as well, finding her even more beautiful and adorable than ever. Maybe tonight would be his chance. He led her out to the balcony by the hand.

* * *

Together, they looked up at the stars, which were the brightest they had ever been. Tayomi noticed his tie was coming undone and quickly tied it back for him. Hitsugaya looked at the first and only girl he ever fell in love with and watched her tie his tie for him.

"Can you believe it? It's only a few minutes to the New Year…" Tayomi sighed. "And we're officially graduates of the Spiritual Arts Academy…"

"Yeah…" Hitsugaya sighed. "I want to ask you something."

Tayomi looked at him, blinking.

"Do you fall off balconies too?"

"Well…" Tayomi thought hard. "No… "

"Good."

Hitsugaya wrapped his arms around her waist and held her close to him. She gazed straight into his turquoise eyes and her hands were against his chest. _His heart is beating really quickly…_ Hitsugaya shifted one of his hands behind her head and ran his fingers through her hair. Her heart was beating at the speed of light by now. He tilted his head slightly towards the left and closed the distance between her lips and his. Tayomi closed her eyes and let it happen, as his lips finally touched and pressed onto hers. After two failed attempts, he had finally kissed her on the lips successfully. The both of them drew back briefly and Tayomi stretched out her arms, placing it around Hitsugaya's neck. They gazed into each other's eyes and she stroked his face with her hand.

"I have nothing to fall off this time…" She whispered in his ear. "Because you're holding me in your arms…"

Hitsugaya smiled and they kissed again, just as the fireworks exploded in the sky. Tayomi ran her hand down from his hair to his neck and Hitsugaya's ran from her neck down her back. He knew he had to catch her tight this time. Now was the best time to tell her how he really felt and he hoped she felt the same way too.

"I…" Hitsugaya whispered in her ear. "I love you… I love you, Tayomi Sakuri."

Tayomi could feel her tears welling up in her eyes. "I love you too, Hitsugaya Toushirou… I always have, ever since the day I met you."

"Really?" Hitsugaya asked. Tayomi nodded.

"Happy New Year, Susu-chan."

"Happy New Year, Yomi-chan."

Hinamori, Renji and Kira watched them from afar and smiled. Nature had done its job well. They turned to each other and giggled, watching the romance unfold. Hitsugaya held her tight and they continued to watch the rest of the fireworks fly up into the sky, beyond the stars.

"If we do get split up in the Gotei 13… Don't forget me."

"Are you crazy?" Tayomi was ready to cry all over again as she rested her head on his shoulder. "I can't… I won't… I never will. The things I wouldn't forget… It's not only you… It's us. I promise… I won't have eyes for any other boy… Other than you, of course."

"Then…" Hitsugaya kissed her on the forehead and held her tighter. "I'll promise you that I won't love anyone else ever, other than you."

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Source:

.%20Raitt%20%20Time%20Of%20Our%  
.com/pyramid_lyrics_charice_ft_

DISCLAIMER: I do not own the songs and lyrics(Bonnie Raitt:Time of our Lives, Charice ft Iyaz:Pyramid) used in this FanFiction! I do not own Bleach either. They belong to their rightful owners. No copyright infringement intended.

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**Author's note:  
**Well, that's the end of Tayomi and Hitsugaya's time in school. It doesn't mean their story is over though :D I will be starting a new story on their life in Gotei 13. There will be more characters added in, like Matsumoto, Ikkaku, Yumichika, Urahara, Ichigo and Rukia! XD  
I hope you liked this story and enjoyed watching the two of them progress... Tayomi will continue growing as a person and Shinigami :D Hitsugaya will become the Hitsugaya we know and love today :D So thank you for all your support, I really appreciate it! ^.^ Please continue reviewing and continue to stay tuned for the new story... Bleach: Squad Life & Frostbitten Lightning! Once again, thank you for all your support, I love you all!


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